Is it wrong to write a SI when you can't write
by ShardOfSoul
Summary: A person who can't write writes a si fanfic... and what could go wrong. (updates will slow as it is now my secondary project)
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: month one, year ten (part one)

Authors note

Hi, like the title says this is a *mostly* shameless self insert fic… I apologize to the like 10 fans (probably fewer tbh :) ) of my other works, real world stuff and writer's block is a biotch. I of course accept criticism on this work as well as my others. I simply ask anyone reading this to lower their expectations (I know, its a fanfic but I mean lower than that). Now on with the pain XD.

Prologue: meeting a bunny.

As I walked towards the dungeon I reflected on the date, 10 years since I first woke up on this world. I still don't know why, how (if at all) I am meant to get home and for the past 8 or so years the question of whether I wanted to or not wandered through my mind. People stared as I walked past, not surprising in the least. As the newest level 5 in the Loki familia I was sure to attract attention, not as much as the "sword princess". Not as much as the invincible girl, or what I called the warriors three, Riviera, Finn and Gareth. Ironically my relative plainness was what made me most stick out, Loki was known for picking male and female (especially female) children based on their looks. Although I was not unattractive I was nowhere near as pretty as any of the others (Except Gareth but hey). We were prepping our expedition, they usually took a couple weeks now that we were going below the 50th. As I was walking through the markets I saw a potato stand, it was staffed by what appeared to be a small lady with almost comically sized boobs. However looks can be deceiving, I could feel the divine power radiating from her. This lady was a goddess without a doubt. As I was hungry anyway even after breakfast at the manor I decided to purchase one of the fried potatoes. Handing over the valis I smiled brightly enough to even fool myself as I said "thank you…" my voice trailing off to gently imply the question which was 'what is your name?'

"Hestia"

"Shard" I replied. Her eyes did not light up at hearing that, I guessed she was a relatively new goddess. Though not quite an Ottar, or even an Aiz it was rare to find either a god or a child who did not know me at least in passing.

As I walked to babel, and more notably the dungeon, a boy ran into me.

"SORRY!" he shouted out, his face turning blood red to match his adorable red eyes and snow white hair.

Gently grabbing him both to lift him up and keep him from bolting I once again put on my smile as I asked

"Where are you headed in such a hurry kid?"

Unable to flee he mutters "I'm heading to the guild to register."

Noting the guild was in nearly the opposite direction I asked playfully "Do you know where it is?"

Blushing the kid uttered a simple "no."

I smiled more gently, my real smile, as I let go of his arm "It's ok, I have a few minutes to spare, I'll show you"

Though it wasn't the reason I did these things, it helped improve the Loki familia's already positive reputation. It also helped cement myself as a big softie… of course when said softie is one of the prized first string adventurers of Orario (even if literally only as of a week ago) it decreases the risk of troublemakers.

As we got to the building I in my monotone stated "here we are, have a good day kid."

"Thank you sir" The kid shouted before I got out of earshot he yelled "My name is Bell Crannel! What's yours sir?"

Chuckling I answered "Shard Soulspear"

The chorus of roars was deafening. Roaring like a wall of pure sound. A sea of monsters with horns that curled above their heads like mountain goats raced across the terrain. The horse like heads that rose from the creatures' bodies could only be called hideous. They snorted heavily in unison, rolling their bloodshot eyes around to glare at their squirming prey. The immense black mob of massive creatures that were dubbed "monsters" advanced as one, clubs of various shapes and sizes in the grip of their meaty hands. The ones at the front raised their weapons high above their heads, ready to strike.

"Shields, ready—!" Finn ordered, his eyes focused yet weary.

Though not in true synchronization, more of an amatures attempt, the shield wall went up, the sound of metal clanking as it linked.

"Front line, don't break formation! Rear guard, continue attacking!" He shouted again as the lines collided

Trying to withstand the ferocious barrage was a group of humans and demi-humans—a line of stout, muscular dwarves wielding large shields in both arms, protecting groups of elves and animal people equipped with bows and arrows and staffs. The pair of Amazonian twins with wheat-colored skin wove their way among their compatriots' volleys to engage the monsters head on. I joined them, My glaive was perfect for a shieldwall. I cut through them like a hot knife through melted butter. We slowly pushed through, I always hated this part the most. It felt so claustrophobic with dozens of adventurers… as much as I feared 52-58 I at least could appreciate the joy of being able to actually use my status effectively, to really let loose. I never had the courage to ask my seniors whether they felt the same way… and of the deep team I was the most junior so I had none to badger for an answer.

I was taken out of my head by Riviera casting.

"—Soon, the flames shall be loosed."

Silky, jade-colored hair seemed to dance in the air along with her long white mage's robe. She held a long white and silver staff horizontally with both hands at shoulder level. An elegant and refined elf, her leaflike ears pointed outward from her soft, feminine face.

"Creeping flames of war, inevitable destruction. The battle horns sound out on high and the atrocity of conflict will envelop all." Her beauty seemed misplaced on such a chaotic battlefield. Her voice grew steadily louder as she continued her incantation. It was a powerful, yet melodic casting. A ring of jade light emerged from beneath her feet, growing steadily wider as thousands of luminous motes rose high into the air. The elf's beautiful eyebrows sank, her concentration nearing its peak as her eyes locked onto a spot just beyond the front line.

"Come, crimson flames, ruthless inferno!" As the sound of her spell reached the ears of her allies, I knew that she was our last hope.

"—Grooooooooaaaaaah!" On the other side of the shields, the monsters—the Fomoire—howled together. One particularly large one from the middle of the group charged forward, knocking its own allies out of the way in the process. It had taken it upon itself to break the barrier with its own menacing club. Its intimidating shadow fell over the line of dwarves. One of them peeked out from between the small opening between his shields in time to see the club coming straight down. The blow was much more powerful than any before it. Not only did it knock the dwarf clean off his feet, but the impact knocked those around him off balance. The other Fomoire immediately saw the opportunity and rushed in.

"—Bete, close that hole!" "Tch—What the hell're ya doin' over there?!"

I rushed in, closer than Bete by coincidence. As I swung my blade keeping distance, tracking the dozens of strikes moving at me at once I held as best I could until Aiz came in, though we were both technically the same level there was a world between us. She held what I barely could effortlessly

"Incinerate, Sword of Surtr—my name is Alf!"

As I heard that I ran as fast as my legs would carry me.

"Rea Laevateinn!" A wall of flames. From the ground within the magic circle sprang countless columns of flame. The monsters' cries of pain were snuffed out one by one as their forms vanished. No matter how many times I have seen this, it still always blew my mind. One of the nine hells, one of the spells of the poster woman for mage. However good we may be, none of us can turn a horde with only a few short words.

 **50th floor**

Many different noises filled the air. Some people were busy sparring, the sound of their metal blades clashing through the din of conversation. Everyone had a job to do—some carried massive weapons over their shoulders, some pounded iron stakes into the ground, and others trotted here and there carrying messages. I was amongst the sparers. Bete was currently throwing himself at me as I laughed and laughed.

"Come on man, you're faster than me. How can you not hit me." I beamed

His response, eloquent as ever, was another kick. As I redirected it into the ground I laughed out "Stronger than me too. You should have this in the bag"

Though this might seem cruel it was just revenge, back before my most recent level Bete was the one dishing out the one sided beating, with my new level the difference closed enough where I could actually fight him again.

I saw Lefiya harassing Aiz about something… probably trying to flirt without flirting. I felt for that girl, I went through that when I was a teen the first time around.

While I was distracted Bete took advantage and kicked me in the head, just hard enough to hurt but not enough to do damage.

"Focus on the fight" he said entirely to seriously… I began to think while dodging him again 'does he think I have a crush on aiz' everyone knew bete did, and those like me with more experience could tell with lefiya too. Although her beauty was supernatural for some reason I could not find her attractive. However until the second half of puberty "awakened" for her my guess was all of her suitors were S.O.L.

After continuing to (with increasing difficulty as he wore me down) dodge Bete's attacks we both rejoined the camp. As we did Bete saw Tiona on Aiz's back… I walked away from that. Bete and Tiona were oil and water… no that's not quite right… more like francium and water. As I lay in the center of the camp I saw Tione bringing Aiz into the command tent. Probably to chew her out for going full hero mode and saving the frontline at the risk of losing everything… again.

Loki Familia had gathered together to eat around the light of many portable magic-stone lamps. Though this area was relatively safe, everyone was still rightly on guard. Finagle's law: anything that can go wrong will go wrong.

Finn began his speech, he was a great public speaker… unlike me. Although I wasn't in the innermost circle entirely Finn long ago learned to be careful with what he said lest I piece things together he would rather be left alone.

"I want to congratulate all of you on a job well done in the Moitra Sands. It's thanks to everyone's individual strengths that we've made it to the fiftieth floor. Allow me to show my appreciation to all of you, thank you." 'especially aiz' I thought

"The forty-ninth floor is always rough. Especially today, with all those Fomoire popping out of nowhere." 'another day, another case of pure Rng bullshit'

"Be grateful the floor boss, Balor, wasn't there." 'else we might have to pull out all the stops then not go down to the hell on earth that is 52-58

"Ha-ha. Anyway, this deserves a toast. We don't have any wine, but all the same—Cheers!" 'good thing I don't drink' glancing at Riviera as I thought that.

I walked over to Aiz before I started eating, once I started I rarely could stop.

"Thanks for bailing me out" I began, looking at her blank face I remembered that there was no bail in this world… first misplaced idiom in over a year "For saving me." I continued before she could do the cute socially awkward *no it was my fault* thing "I hope the captain didn't chew you out too badly."

"It was fine" she replied. A light smile creeping onto her face.

"Now get something to eat, even if you don't want to. You're skinnier than a bone" I said smiling.

The punch hurt but she got up and went to the center pot. As I coughed I smiled as I realized she didn't go coughing up blood hard in her punch. I followed and got SEVERAL bowls (though one at a time of course, im hungry, not sadistic) of the meaty fruit stew. After most people had eaten the cleanup and plan was next… as if on schedule,

"Now would be a good time to go over our plan moving forward." Finn made his way to the center of the group. Everyone except for the lookouts formed a circle around him. He made eye contact with each of them in turn.

"The goal of this expedition is to document new information on the Deep Levels. That has not changed. However, we have a quest to complete before proceeding to the fifty-ninth floor."

"A quest…The one issued by Dian Cecht Familia?" I added.

"Indeed. They would like us to bring back a large amount of water from the Cadmus Springs on the fifty-first floor." Finn acknowledged My question with a nod. Tiona suddenly appeared at her sister's side and was quick to voice her opinion. "Cadmus Springs…Gahhh. Such a pain. Why did you accept that one?"

"The reward they've proposed is worth that pain. Also, they've treated us well in the past, so we couldn't ignore it." "Bastards, sendin' us to do the dirty work…" Riveria stepped forward to answer the question as Bete snarled behind her. Ignoring his allies' misgivings about the content of their mission, Finn started to explain the plan.

"We'll send two small teams to the fifty-first floor. Avoiding combat as much as possible to conserve weapons and items, both teams will quickly secure the water and return to camp. Any questions?"

"Oh! Me, me! Why are we splitting into two parties?" Tione asked

"Because they want a lot of water. One group can only carry back so much. We'll need at least two full containers to fill their order." Gareth supported Finn's plan. "We've got storage problems of our own, with the food an' all. Floor fifty-nine is still ahead of us, so we can't spend too much time on a quest. Splittin' up's faster, more efficient." Expeditions were also a battle against time. It had taken them the better part of five days to reach the fiftieth floor. The trip back to the surface always had to be considered. The schedule was tight, and they couldn't afford to lose any time or supplies getting sidetracked. "Also, a big group like this can't move well in the Cadmus Springs. While it hurts to split our forces, it's for the best…Any other questions? If not, let's figure out party members." Finn looked around again as he asked his question. Since no one responded, he started issuing orders. Without fail, Tiona had her hand wiggling high in the air a moment later. "Oh! Oh! Me—I'll go! Come with me, Aiz!" "Sure." "I mean, if we didn't get to go, then who would? Small groups, top-class adventurers only, you understand?" "That settles it, Tione's with us!" Tiona was quick to snatch her sister's wrist and pull her into their battle party. "Huh? Wait, I should be with the general…!" Finn ordered the familia's strongest magic user to stay behind. "Riveria, please stay with the camp. I want your Mind rested and ready to go once this quest is over. Of course, protect the camp if need be." "…I suppose it cannot be helped." Magic used mental energy—Mind—as a power source. Riveria had already expended a large amount, so she didn't try to argue with the general's decision. Looking outside the circle, Riveria's eyes fell on one girl. "Lefiya, take my place alongside Aiz and the Amazons." "All right…Wait, me?!" "There's no problem with that, is there, Finn?" "Sounds good to me. We're counting on her to be your successor, so now's as good a time as any to get some experience." "G-General?! Lady Riveria?! I-I'm not—!" "Lefiya, over here!" The young elf's objections were quickly silenced as Tiona grabbed her, too, and brought her into the group. "That bein' the case, the other top fighters'll form the second team: Finn, Bete, myself…and…" "Hey, Raul! We need a supporter over here." "Y-you talking to me?!" "Yeah, who else?" The two parties for the quest had been set. They were as follows: Team One: Aiz, Tiona, Tione, and Lefiya. Team Two: Finn, Bete, Gareth, and Raul.

"…Hey. Will the ladies be all right?" "Hmmm…" Finn considered as Bete pointed out the imbalance of the other battle party's composition. Being an Amazon, Tiona was a pure berserker in combat. Additionally, Aiz's ferocity in combat was such that she had been given the title "Battle Princess" by the people who knew her best. While Tione appeared cool and collected on the surface, she could be much more destructive than her younger sister and Aiz together. Moreover, Team One's magic user, Lefiya, was at a lower level than the other fighters. There was no way she could keep up. Finn looked at the camp guards, namely Rivera and I. Normally I was kept back at camp due to my lower level, I only passed Raul a couple weeks ago so he instinctively passed over me. "I think the springs could handle a party of five. Shard will join your team Tione. I'm counting on you Tione. I hope my trust isn't misplaced."

"—Leave it to me!" Tione making her infatuation with our prum captain more and more obvious by the moment.

"Here I gooo!" Tiona gleefully charged into battle. The double-bladed sword in her grasp was large enough to make anyone look twice. Both of her hands were on the handle that connected the two blades. The oncoming monsters suddenly fell silent as the Amazon whipped her weapon around like a children's toy. "That's five!" In one great slice, she put all of her weight into a jumping attack and sent the monsters flying. Completely ignoring the corpses piling up around her, the warrior let her instincts kick in. Finding her next target in the blink of an eye, Tiona took off in that direction. "Aiz, cover that moron! Don't let her get out too far ahead!" "Understood."

I chuckled softly. Tione glowered at me, as Tiona was to Bete, Tione was to me.

"You can shut your mouth."

"But it is amusing, didn't you hear. Even Bete figured it out. Without my maturity to shame you this party would never work" I grin at her frown as I go for the verbal kill.

"Don't let it bother you that the captain trusts me more."

Though her anger boiled over she maintained a professional demeanor. 'I pulled the Tien' I said to myself 'at this point if she hits me, I win, and she knows that.'

As we bantered Aiz and Tiona were thoroughly butchering all of the black rhino's ahead of us. As reinforcements piled in I drew my glaive.

"Ok boss" I coyly mocked "I'll go help on the front and you can… manage things… I guess"

"Four more coming in from the right! Reinforcements arriving from the back! Lefiya, signal us when you're ready!" Aiz, Tiona and I engaged the horde of black rhinos directly while Tione supported them from the middle of the formation with throwing knives while shouting orders. In the face of the oncoming onslaught, Lefiya raised her staff at the back of their formation and began to recite her spell. "—Take up your bows to face the marauders. Answer the call of your kin and nock your arrows." "—OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" "?!" Suddenly, the wall right beside Lefiya broke open. Shielding herself from debris, the elf peeked around her arms to see an absolutely terrifying red and purple spider, with eight hairy legs and many menacing eyes—a deformis spider. The monster, born directly from the Dungeon wall, jumped straight toward the vulnerable mage. A perfect ambush. Time seemed to stand still for Lefiya, watching the creature's jaws wide open, fangs glinting in the dim light. At that moment, a blade flashed before her eyes and sliced the beast's head in half. "Eeeek!" "Keep casting, Lefiya." "R-right!" Tione had jumped to Lefiya's aid, long black hair flowing in her wake. She grabbed the handle of her Kukri throwing knife, still embedded in the beast's neck, and gave it a sharp twist before yanking it out. The still-twitching deformis spider split in two pieces as it collapsed to the ground. "Ah, err, um…!" Lefiya had regained her footing, but there was too much adrenaline pulsing through her veins. Try as she might, she couldn't focus. Taking a few moments to concentrate, she inhaled all the way down to the bottom of her lungs and opened her mouth to start the spell over from the beginning. It was at that moment that Aiz and Tiona took down the last of the black rhino horde. The halls were filled with an eerie silence, with all the monsters' lifeless bodies lying at their feet. "I-I'm so sorry…I…" "Nothing to worry about, Lefiya. These things happen to everyone." The blood-streaked Urga over her shoulder, Tiona walked up to the elf with Aiz not far behind. The blond girl sheathed her saber as Lefiya continued to apologize. Tione joined them after a quick sweep of the area. The elf had completely missed her window to attack, missing the opportunity that the frontline had created for her. She had never felt so useless. "I shouldn't have come after all. At Level Three, I'm only holding you back…" "Calm down, Lefiya." Tione placed her hand on Lefiya's trembling shoulder. Slowly, cautiously, the elf raised her face to meet the Amazon's gaze. Tiona jumped up behind her sister and added her own encouragement. "Your Level might be a little low, but your Magic is strong enough to roast anything down here. Riveria chose you herself, yes? Have some confidence."

"What was that Magic power ability of yours again—that thing Loki said a while back…? Oh yeah! The big ka-boom! With a Skill like that, you could wipe out any monster in one hit!" "You see, that's…" Lefiya lost the ability to argue the moment her Skill was brought up. Her golden hair flowed to the side as she looked over her shoulder and down her back. Her Skill increased her Magic power, making her a perfect fit for the rear of the formation as a mage. As Tiona had said, having this Skill meant that, out of this party of four, Lefiya was capable of inflicting the most damage.

"B-but I can't even defend myself. If Tione hadn't been there to protect me, I would've died a pointless death…" However, the rest of the party was Level 5. They were some of the very few adventurers in Orario who were allowed to be called "top class." They were the cream of the crop. In terms of pure strength and skill, Lefiya didn't even come close. In truth, she wouldn't stand a chance if she were to face any of the monsters on this floor on her own. The elf desperately tried to deny everything her allies said to encourage her.

"…Mages do different things than we do." This time, it was Aiz who spoke up. Lefiya couldn't hide her surprise when the stoic blond girl joined the conversation. "Riveria taught me so. We protect mages from monsters, and mages like you protect us…So, um…" Aiz's words began to slow. Not used to being the center of attention, having three pairs of eyes on her at once made her feel so out of place she couldn't string words together. Growing redder by the moment, the girl desperately tried to say what was on her mind, until her gaze drifted away and she said these words: "We will protect you, always…So save us if we get in trouble, okay?"

I smiled at the elf adding "hey, could be worse, you could have a spell with an ultra long cast time with no flashy effect." hoping the self deprecation would help her.

She smiled back.

So… Boss… "Shall we collect these magic stones? We can't expect Lefiya to get all of them by herself."

Tione was pissed at the back seat captaining… but being right has its perks as her only response was to nod.

"Tione, you're leaving behind the drop items? Sure we can let them go to waste?" "All those big horns and pieces of hide would just weigh us down. The spring water takes priority." I laughed internally… forget Bete and I, the sisters were the largest source of conflict after all.

"Almost there…Let's go over a few things before we get to the spring." The wide hallway began to narrow in front of them, signaling to Tione that their destination was just up ahead. The others kept walking as the Amazon reviewed the finer points of their quest. "The only thing we have to do is get the water…but a battle with Cadmus, the Great Dragon, is probably unavoidable." "Cadmus, um, isn't it…?" "Yep, really, really strong…" "In terms of Strength alone, stronger than the floor boss Udaeus, I think."

Interrupting I say "so we kill it, shouldn't be to hard with both Aiz and I here. Not to mention Lefiya's spell power." In truth I was shaking slightly, but it was better to get this out of the way.

"Yes Shard… perceptive as usual"

"Happy to help. Yo Tione"

"WHAT!" She yelled composure finally snapping.

"I forgot, did the captain say I could cast for this or no?"

She sighed knowing what I was getting at "I take full responsibility for your use of magic… now cast your spell on entrance."

"Gladly" I cackled

I was greatly disappointed when there was no boss… only a skeleton and some green goop.

To be continued

That was the first chapter. The First sections of this are going to slowly establish the relationships of the characters (although I am considering flashbacks to the arrival years for this as well) I wanted to make myself on the higher end of the power curve but not stronger than the established cast. If anyone is curious I have a mock status sheet for the character that I can post (minus the spell… its being saved… for reasons). I also realized this one chapter is almost as long as both of my other works in their entirety… welp it is what it is. I'll see y'all when I see y'all.


	2. Chapter 2

Hi and welcome to part two. That's about all I can say about that, well except one other thing, for some reason this site has two different language titles for Danmachi fics. This is awkward because that means I am only ruining half the search results I should be XD. Anyway on with part two. One last note, I am going to finally do a third person limited rather than first person pov… very odd considering this is an si but whatever.

Month one, Year ten, part two.

Snafu did not even begin to describe what went down. After the discovery of the dead dragon the parties were both forced to retreat. It was an army of irregulars swarming over all of the camp. Massive caterpillars with incredibly destructive acid blood and poisonous spores. Shard still winced at how one cut destroyed his glaive. Watching the acid rip it to shreds, tiona had a similar problem as her heavy weapon was utterly destroyed by the acid. Only aiz was able to man the front as her sword was unbreakable, a necessary feature due to her habit of ripping her own blades apart due to immense strength.

As it stood the loki familia was forced to retreat with a failed mission and massive losses due to destroyed equipment. For the past few minutes it was an awkward silence. Tiona broke it.

"We could have pressed on. There was still so much fun to be had."

"Enough already. You're testing my patience." her sister replied

"But to call it quits at floor 50..."

Tione scolded her sister for the repetitive complaints. Tiona hadn't stopped voicing her opinion the entire way up.

"How many times did the general explain it to you? Those monsters destroyed almost all of our weapons and food. There wasn't enough to continue."

"But there's food everywhere down here. We could've figured it out…"

"Without weapons or items? They don't grow down here. Especially weapons—all we have left are pieces of junk."

"Tiona, not everyone is as strong as you." Shard added trying to flatter her into silence. "Even though you might be able to continue without your main weapon people like me, and especially the second stringers, cannot."

"Wait, did you and Tione agree on something"

"It happens occasionally."

Everyone was forced to wear badly damaged armor and carry weapons that could break at any moment. The edges had become dull without any smiths or artisans around to sharpen them—their armor had holes or large gashes in the plating, drastically reducing their Defense; one big hit and everything could fall apart. With the exception of a few Superiors, all equipment, no matter how well made, was doomed to this fate during long missions like this one.

Tiona finally mustered a reply "Uwahhh! This still sucks. Just getting to floor fifty was so hard…"

It had been 6 days since finn gave the order to return to the surface. Combined with the week on the way down and the remainder of the time to get to the surface from floor 17 the total expedition time would be two weeks… two wasted weeks Shard mused, 'my status will barely advance from this.'

Fortunately although his weapon was wrecked his armor was still in relatively good condition. It still needed maintenance but unlike Gareth or Aiz his armor was still mostly intact.

Their group arrived at a wide room. The passageways up here were much narrower than in the Deep Levels, so Loki Familia had split into two groups before arriving on level seventeen. It was much more difficult to coordinate a large group in close quarters should they get swarmed by monsters. Riveria was at the helm of the forward group. Including the Amazonian twins and Aiz, there were almost twenty adventurers traveling together. Finn and Gareth were with the second group. They were on their way home and everyone was tired, but none more so than the lower-level supporters who had been tasked with carrying the surviving baggage.

Shard saw Aiz offering help to a low level supporter, and saw both the supporter and Bete ward her off. After letting Bete do his strength lecture Shard walked up to Aiz.

"It's more important that you let them carry as much as they can, or else they will not improve. You are kind but sometimes temporary kindness can cause more suffering in the long run."

In truth Shard half agreed with Bete on these matters. Though Bete took too much of a bullying perspective for his liking there was usually a logical principle behind all of his seemingly callous actions.

In the meantime Tiona and Bete were at it… again…

"No, Aiz, don't listen to a word Bete says. That's the real waste of time!"

"Go to hell, woman. You should be helpin' the runts! Yet there ya are, empty-handed! Move yer ass!"

"Shut up already!"

But then the familiar sound of mooing was heard ending the argument. Rusty brown fur–covered bodies built like brick walls. It was a herd of Minotaurs: massive man-shaped beasts with bull-like heads that embodied the term monster.

"See, Bete! These Minotaurs came here to shut you up!"

"Yeah, right, dimwit! Tsk, sure are a lot of 'em, though…"

At least Shard THOUGHT it would have ended the argument… but in hindsight he should have known better by now.

"Riveria, there's a lot of them, so can we join in?"

"Yes, that's fine. Raul, take command for this battle. Finn believes you are ready to gain some experience."

"Y-yes, ma'am!"

Without a weapon and with a low "fist strike" development ability, and with a spell useless for this context Shard stood back and watched his fellow first tiers and the swarm of second tiers rip the minotaurs to shreds. This lasted all of 10 seconds as the minotaurs realized the truth, that they were the prey, not the predators. They started to panic and flee.

"Huh?!"

"Heey! Ya call yerselves monsters?!"

Tiona and Bete were upset about the flight but as Riveria and I realized the same thing we looked at each other in mild terror. 'The upper floors!' we both thought. A massive panic of level two monsters, and the strongest of them at that could potentially reach the upper floors before dissipating and put level one adventurers at risk, especially those in the first 6 levels. They would not stand a chance.

"After them, all of you!" Riveria's shrill voice cut through the chaos.

A large group of Minotaurs hurtled down the passageway leading up to the sixteenth floor. By the time Tiona noticed, they were disappearing up the stairwell. "

This is gonna be one hell of a pain in the ass!"

Following the chorus of footsteps and howls, the top-class adventurers bounded their way to the next floor. Aiz led the charge as they caught up to the panicked Minotaurs. Shard was slower than the others but attempted to keep up. Fortunately he was still useful as he could more easily pinpoint exact locations than the others.

As Aiz and Bete went to deal with one of them on the 5th floor Shard focused. 'There is one more on the 4th floor entrance. Dammit I did _not_ need this today.' He ran as fast as possible pulling a basic knife left from the stockpile as he stabbed right through to the crystal of the minotaur. Knowing that the last one had fallen he collapsed and began breathing heavily. Even for a newly level 5, running across 13 floors the smallest of which was the size of a park was not fun. A minute later A kid ran by covered in blood… wait… that kid… nah, it couldn't be. As He got up Shard slowly walked back to Bete and Aiz.

Bete was laughing at something, apparently Aiz had a moment or something. As shard stared at them, his deep blue eyes betrayed his confusion. The expedition had finally ended… as a failure that was barely not a catastrophe.

"Finally home…" In the city's northern district, just off the main road… One long, tall building stood above the rest. It was composed of a line of dark red towers that stood like spears above the city. The structure looked like flames when the sunlight hit it just right. The flag of the Trickster flew majestically from the top of the highest tower, its red color matching the towers. Loki Familia's home, Twilight Manor.

"Ahhh, so tired. Forget a steak, I'll take the entire cow."

"I want a shower. As soon as possible."

"Ah-ha-ha…"

Lefiya laughed awkwardly at the Amazonian twins' conversation. The expedition party had emerged from the Dungeon and returned to their home. Most of the thirty adventurers were carrying large bags, or dragging them, all the way up to the front gate. Two guards, a man and a woman, saluted them as they approached. "We're home. Please open the gate." They nodded at Finn and pulled open the iron fence–like doors.

"You ok Aiz?" Shard asked. Over the decade he had gotten good at reading the subtle signs written all over the sword princess's face.

Before she could respond there was a minor interruption from a major god.

"—Welcome hoooome!"

She practically threw herself at them with her arms open wide. Step, step, step, Aiz, Tiona, and Tione easily dodged the oncoming hug. Lefiya didn't realize what was happening until, "Huh, wha? Eeeek!" She was trapped in the embrace and fell to the ground.

"Loki, we suffered no casualties on this expedition. But we didn't explore any lower floors. I'd like to sit down and explain the details."

"Nnnn…Okay, then. Welcome back, Finn."

"Thank you, Loki."

The woman pulled her head away from the elf girl beneath her and flashed a smile at the prum. Despite fully accepting the somewhat divine nature of the beings in this universe Shard had a hard time treating them as such, especially when like loki they acted more like children. Ironically this willingness to back sass Loki was one of the things she liked most about him.

"Loki, could you get off Lefiya? She's exhausted, and you're giving her a heart attack."

"Oh, my, my. My bad, Lefiya. Kinda got caught up in the moment."

"I-it's okay…"

"Oh, and by the way…Geh-heh-heh, didn't your boobs get a lil' bigger?"

"N-no! Not at all!"

"I still find it surprising that you're one of the more normal gods."

"I'm still surprised you grew up to be so ugly, you were such a pretty kid."

"Hey, at least I actually get a response from women other than revulsion."

"Yeah… pity."

"Touche Goddess." Shard conceded before I crossed over from banter to insults.

At this point she turned her attention to Tione, noting the destruction of her clothing.

"Hold on a sec, Tione, what's that wrapped around your…That's Finn's waistcloth! Say it ain't so! Don't tell me you exposed yourself for the whole Dungeon to see! How do ya plead?"

"Stop embarrassing yourself. And keep your distance; it's too hot out."

'Of course it's too hot out' shared thought. Back when he first joined he looked through maps to determine whether or not this world shared the same geography as the Earth he knew. Much to his pleasure it did. he had found that Orario was in a similar location to Rome. In the middle of summer even with the nearby sea Italy was a scorcher.

Finally, more maternaly than before, Loki turned her attention to Aiz.

"Aiz! Welcome home!"

"I'm back, Loki…" The eyes of the goddess fell on Aiz, who responded to her greeting right away. Loki seemed really happy to see her—at first. Then the goddess's narrow eyes opened a little bit wider.

"Ah, you're in quite a bit of pain there. Gotta get your rest, don't ya know?"

"…"

The blonde girl's magic had taken its toll on her body. Her joints groaned with every step. Even Loki could see that it was best for Aiz to take it slow. Shard moved past the gathering. He knew the girls would take priority in the communal showers due to their larger number and average rank so he took the time to organize his schedule for tomorrow.

His quarters were overall neat, however it looked nothing like a fighter's room. Bookshelves lined the walls, some fiction, but a slew of history tomes. He walked over to a plain black journal, the 7th in a row. Turned the page until he reached the first blank one Shard sighed. Putting the book back he listed out loud his required activities.

"Let's see, the main things are… getting the new glaive. That will cost more because I can't turn in the old one. Restock my potions, I am short one healing light and medium. I need to organize supplies for the next trip for training the newbies. Oh, and I need to sell half of the drop items… Can't let Tione handle that on her own." he continued in her head. 'The girl is brutal but her only tool is a hammer'

After that he went to the showers. His timing was not a matter of luck, his superior senses made it childs play to tell when the water faucets were all off. As he got there before the rest of the guys could be informed he was able to quickly rinse off on his own. As much as it might improve group cohesion, being nude with the other guys was not something Shard was very comfortable with, a holdover from before the crossover. High school once was once too much.

Only taking the time to put on the fresh clothes he brought with him and to properly care for the 2 week soiled ones, he got to the banquet hall just slightly before the girls.

"We live together, we eat together." Loki had always encouraged them to eat as a group. Now that the expedition was over, only the lookouts on patrol were absent from the feast unfolding inside Twilight Manor. It went without saying that the narrow hall was very crowded. Even Aiz had trouble squeezing through to find an open seat.

Azure never took chances. Although modest in some appetites food certainly wasn't one of them. It was a source of amusement for the upper echelon of the loki familia, especially Gareth, that the little human (not so little anymore). Would constantly eat portions that were surely intended for several people. After the first few times at 10, the cooks had learned and always added a few more of everything. Feasts like this were the exception. Even Shard's black hole like stomach could not hope to make a dent in the sheer volume on display. He did manage to communicate during these events, but it was clearly second on his list of priorities.

Eventually the feast slowed down as everyone finished consuming more valis in food than some familias made in annual income. Tiona broke the silence amongst the A team of Loki familia adventurers.

"Tione, is there a meeting after dinner?"

"The general said to take it easy tonight. We'll take care of it in the morning."

"That's our Finn!"

Members of the familia who'd finished eating cleaned up their plates and started disappearing from the dining hall one by one. Loki was halfway through another glass of wine when she suddenly jumped to her feet as though she'd remembered something important.

"Almost forgot. Anyone wantin' a Status update today should come ta my room. Doin' everybody one after another tomorrow would take a lot out of me. So how 'bout ten of ya tonight?"

"What are everyone's intentions?"

"I'll take that offer" Shard jumped up (Tione laughed into her hand)

Gareth also laughed but more fondly, remembering the passionate child who joined 9 years ago.

"I'm calling it a night. My bed's calling out to me…" (Tiona)

"Good question. There's nothing in particular for me to do, but I don't think I got enough excelia for my Status to change all that much…Huh. I'll go if I feel like it. What about you, Lefiya?" (Tione)

"Today's a little…"

"Aiz…do I even have to ask?" (Loki)

"I'm going."

Both Shard and Aiz followed loki up to her room at the top of the tower.

"If you want to go ahead of me you can" Shard mumbled

"No, it's fine, you requested it first and the order doesn't really matter" Aiz replied.

Hoping to lighten the mood Shard replied "hoping to see my stats Aiz? You sneaky girl."

Aiz did not reply, however her golden eyes lit ever so slightly at the statement.

As they reached the top of the tower Shard turned to Aiz one last time before going in. "Wish me luck, I'll do the same for you. Not that we need it." In truth they didn't, Shard knew her secret, the little boost that pushed her above what she should be capable of… compared to that power being from another dimension was a relatively small perk all things considered.

"Come on in."

As Shard opened it he saw loki's room in its natural state. That is to say, it looked as if it was just locally hit by a tropical storm. Smiling as he heard her apologize and attempt to make it presentable.

Loki was in the middle of cleaning up. "Sorry 'bout this. Hang on a sec," she said with a stool in her arms and a smile on her face. In that regard they were the two most similar people in the familia. Always smiling, but impossible to tell if it is real.

"That's good enough. Let's do this." Just as she'd promised, Loki put everything down and turned to face Shard.

The young man had found a place to sit at the corner of her bed. Loki patted the stool once to indicate Shard should have a seat.

"Shard, you are the only one bold enough to go ahead of Aiz... "

"Not really, The bosses know they are at the wall until the level eventually so they have no pressure to level up. All of the other level 5's are close to their walls as well. Aiz is the most determined of us but I simply have a lot to gain… a lot of 0's to get rid of."

Before Loki could ask Shard had already removed his body had no scars and was very lightly muscled. More of a swimmers physique than that of a bodybuilder.

"You see, this part of you isn't half bad" Loki muttered, "To bad your face and personality ruin this… acceptable body."

"Hey, at least I don't have to deal with you groping me that much."

"Implying that people might not be grateful for the love of their goddess"

"Outright stating it actually."

"Hmm, fair."

Loki calmly got to work. Taking one of the weapons off her bed, Loki pricked her pointer finger on the tip of the blade. Then the goddess placed her finger just below Aiz's neck as soon as the first few drops of blood came out. Then she traced a series of movements on the girl's back with a steady hand, almost as if she were writing her signature. Her blood flowed out, forming straight lines and intricate patterns before: "Hoi!" The key had been turned.

The tatoo of a trickster god on his back now became a swath of hieroglyphs.

"I'm pretty good at keepin' it locked up, but it sounds like there are other ways to pick it than usin' god's blood. So don't go showin' yer back to no one. I know I've said it too many times already, but it's again, probably worried 'bout nothin' with you."

"Hyuk Hyuk, laugh it up, my dating life is at least as good as yours."

"Well that's a self burn if I ever heard one."

The characters ran in horizontal lines across the girl's back. The intricate lines looked like something that would've been carved into a stone monument. But in fact, this was the thing that bound this "family" together—Loki's Blessing.

"So still no girlfriend huh"

"Yeah, turns out they aren't my type"

"Wait, Shard… do you like boys?"

His face turning red "No… not like that" Regaining his composure. "I'm just more selective than you."

"One more crack like that and I stop your update."

"Fine."

It was an empty threat, Loki was too much of a softie. But Shard knew when to fold them either way.

"'Kay, all done. Sit tight while I jot this down." Loki reversed the process, the red light fading before she locked the Status again, hiding it from view. Then she grabbed her feather pen from the desk and a spare sheet of paper. It took only a moment to write down the important details of Shard's status.

"Here"

Shard took the sheet and looked.

Shard Soulspear

Level 5

Strength: I 0-21

Endurance: I 0-10

Dexterity: I 0-45

Agility: I 0 - 32

Magic: I 0

Hunter: H, Grace H, Abnormal Resistance I, Fist strike I, Glaive Wielder H

Skills: Perceptive: improves all 5 senses immensely and improves reaction time. Can be toggled off.

Precise Blows: Adds Dexterity contribution to strike damage in addition to strength.

Magic: _**REDACTED BY AUTHOR**_

"108 points. Even for your first update pretty good" loki cherily added. "I love when your magic goes up, its kinda funny. Everyone else, every stat goes up gradually. But it is thrilling every time I see those 100+ point bumps from a single cast. I can only imagine how it would feel to see that type of jump in every stat every day from your child."

"Speaking of that. In 2 days I plan on taking a group of free level two's down with me to kill the goliath, get the quest money from Rivira and…"

"Boost your magic stat." Loki finished.

"Yes."

"Ask finn, make sure you aren't screwing over his plans… oh also tell him that you are now officially an executive. Congratulations."

"Thank you goddess."

"Now tell that hottie out here to come in."

"Yes ma'am"

As Shard walked out he told Aiz "be careful, she is a little tipsy."

Her face made him laugh and laugh as he walked casually back to his room.

Alright. That is the end of part two. Part three will be up… sometime… in the future… some notes on his status. Glaive wielder works like finn's spearman ability but at only h level as it is not through a skill. Grace increases agility when an enemy is in mid swing. This increases speed at the moment before a strike lands allowing an easier dodge. The spell is currently a secret but I have fully figured it out. Feel free to guess it if you wish. Thank you for following this story :).


	3. Chapter 3

Hello, and welcome to part three. I don't have any major notes here so thanks in advance for reading.

Month one, Year ten, Part 3.

After returning to his room Shard pulled out his journals. He reread them all and then began writing in the incomplete one. After one page he stopped, put the book away and went to sleep.

Waking up early was something to which he had grown accustomed. His schedule back in the old world had for the last 5 years required him to be up before dawn. This had changed somewhat in Orario but still he always found himself up alongside the first light of day. The darkness would normally require a light, however thankfully even before his status Shard always was good at navigating in the dark. Up before most of the others Shard took advantage to get through the mundanities of the day, as he finished he focused on the voices of the other a listers. If it was more chaotic it would have been hard but the morning after a return was always relatively calm.

"Aiz? You up? The sun sure is."

Sure enough Tiona's voice was barely audible.

The expedition party members had many errands to run after breakfast. At the top of their list was exchanging the items they'd brought back from the Dungeon for money. However, they needed to replace most of their weapons and restock their supply of items. Shard had lucked out in this regard, as he had only recently leveled up he had already commissioned a new set of equipment. Even with that the list went on and on.

"I'm taking y'all out on the town tonight! No stragglin' now!" Loki saw them off. It wasn't long before the group of adventurers arrived on Northwest Main Street.

It was just past nine o'clock in the morning. The street was filled with adventurers making their final preparations to go into the Dungeon. Despite all the activity, there wasn't a single person who didn't notice Loki Familia's presence. Everyone knew exactly who they were and their powerful reputation. Some of the onlookers were filled with envy but most were just awestruck. Every single one of them got out of the way as the group passed.

"You know, this just doesn't feel right. Bete would be so happy right now, too." Tiona was visibly disconcerted by the almost reverential deference.

"Bete ain't that vulgar, Tiona. The laddie do have his own way of showin' pride." Gareth had dealt with a similar reaction from crowds for the better part of a decade now, even Aiz, Bete and I were relative newcomers to the crowd clearing phenomenon.

"Ehhh. Gareth, why'd you have to take his side? That can't be true."

"The laddie do see a difference between lookin' down on folks and hatin' them."

"I don't understand."

"Superiority without arrogance." I commented. "There is a difference between accepting that you are stronger, faster, smarter, more skilled ect. and the perks that come with it, and being truly disgusted by and hateful towards those who are inferior. Not that I agree, but they are not necessarily the same."

The werewolf had been assigned to a group that stayed at home. As much as Shard improved the Loki familia's reputation Bete dampened it. 'Ironic considering how I got my title.' Shard mused.

As they entered the guild finn took over the conversation.

"Riveria, Gareth, and I will take the magic stones to the Exchange. Everyone else, stick to the plan and take care of your individual tasks. And please make sure that all the money is accounted for? Isn't that right, Raul?"

"That was a fluke, sir! Won't happen again!"

"Ha-ha. Well, then, let's get to it."

As the leadership went to turn in the stones Tione took de-facto control of the group.

"Well, we should get moving, too. Don't let anyone try to steal our drop items on the way."

"Surely no one is stupid enough to pick a fight with Loki Familia…"

"Caution. Caution, Lefiya."

"Stealing is only picking a fight if you get caught."

"Shut up Shard."

"Make me Amazon."

Sigh "Just go do your thing, I have the item negotiations."

"Try not to bite their heads off."

"AUGHH"

At this point Tione attempted to punch Shard. As per usual it missed.

"Better luck next time _Jormungand_ "

At this point Shard left preventing any retort.

Shard was headed to the Hephatios familia. Aiz, Tiona and Tione had contracts with the Goibniu Familia so splitting off was more practical. Lefiya would obviously follow her waifu around anywhere regardless of practicality leaving him to go ahead. First he had to retrieve his own weapon.

"Hi, I'm looking for Reginald Wilhein."

"He is in the back."

Though only a level 3 Reginald had been with shard from the start of his dungeoneering. He was the only famila member to build warglaives that had actually seen combat so the fit was fairly obvious, by now he was the master of that weapon save the gods themselves. Not looking up as he gently measured the dimensions of the new blade the dwarf stood a mere 5 feet tall with fire orange hair. His eyes, normally a forest green were covered by two separate spectacles enhancing his vision to a precision of near microscopic levels.

"There we go, true level."

Still not looking up he continued.

"I have it perfectly balanced both in mass and in dimension down to 1/1000th of a celch."

"A micro meder?!"

"This is the best one yet. It also has the durandanal property… It wasn't intentional but forging it to this level of specification… it somehow got stuck with it."

"That only reduces strength based weapon power though. I think I can live with it."

"Where's your other glaive?"

Finally looking up he frowned slightly.

"You normally take care of your weapons, you don't break everything that is unbreakable unlike your girlfriend."

"She is NOT my girlfriend!" A slight tinge of anger appeared on Shard's face

"Ha Ha Ha, I gotcha. I'm surprised more people can't keep up with you. When it gets down to it you aren't that hard to ruffle. Anyway's my question still stands. What happened to your other glaive?"

"It got destroyed by irregulars with acid."

"Hmm. Since this is the first time I am only going to add half of the trade in value back to the cost. Given that I seem to be throwing out random unbreakable weapons now this should not be an issue in the future."

"Fair point."

"Let me write up the invoice and then you may take the glaive."

After just a few seconds the invoice was totaled.

"42,000,000 valis" shard muttered

Filling out the invoice he picked up the glaive. The pole was exactly 2 meders in length with a ⅔ meder length blade. At the point where the blade met the pole there were 5 tiny rings with one tassle in each hole. Each one was differently colored forming a small multicolored ribbon coming out of the back of the weapon. The first three versions did not have this… after the title "Dancing master" received at level 4 it seemed fitting.

"Thank you"

"Good to see ya again kid, visit more often."

"I will."

"Be sure to kill some bosses with that for me."

"I would record it if I could."

"Aye. To bad I couldn't make that work out… it was a cool dream."

"Cya Reggie"

"Cya Shard."

As he grouped up with the others he could not resist spinning around with his new glaive as giddy childish glee flowed through him. In spite of the always crowded streets of Orario, none of the loki familia was nervous. Some mothers in the crowd were though, pulling their kids away from the vibrant display of flashing colors over the shiny metal. Once back at the twilight manor he quickly put away the new weapon and prepared himself for the night out loki wanted.

"Hey finn."

"Yeah?"

"First, getting the obvious out of the way, I've been officially promoted to an executive now."

"I know."

"Second. I was planning on taking some of the level twos with high stats to kill the goliath tomorrow. Followed by some 19-23 level excursions the following day."

"Hmm, I am not going to refuse this… but wait one more day. Some of those level twos are recovering from the last expedition. So are you."

"Fine."

Later that evening.

It had become a Loki Familia tradition to celebrate after expeditions at the bars around town. It was Loki's way of showing her appreciation to her followers; most of them shared her appreciation for a stiff drink. It was one of the few times that the adventurers could really let their hair down.

"I don't come up here often, but it's kind of nice. Calm, stable. I could get used to this."

"Yeah, Northwest Main Street has so many adventurers. This is much better."

The Amazonian twins chatted between themselves as the rest of the group felt a little out of place, since no one was wearing any armor or carrying weapons. Shard was fine with the place. The only objection he could raise was that it wasn't spending time in the dungeon killing monsters, and even he knew that could not be an adventurer's whole life.

"Mama Mia! We're here!"

Evening had turned to night as Loki led her followers to one of her favorite watering holes. A group of waitresses rushed out to greet them as soon as the deity called out the owner's name.

"We have tables prepared for you inside and on the terrace. We apologize for the inconvenience."

"Ahh, not a problem. Thanks."

Loki had made reservations, but a group this large wouldn't all fit inside the bar. A very polite elf explained the situation and the group separated into two, one going to the terrace and one going inside the bar.

"The food here is so good. I accidentally eat too much every time."

"More like ya eat everything in sight…"

"There's such a thing as eating too much?"

"You're unnatural"

"Hey, at least I don't willingly ingest poison."

"For the last time Alcohol isn't poison Shard."

"Riveria, back me up here. It is literally a mild poison."

"I dislike it, and don't understand why some might have it, but I think poison might be a stretch."

At that point Shard felt it. There was a stare coming at this table. The downside to super senses… it also applied to the 6th sense…

'that stare is so focused. But it is not malevolent, and it is not at me. If I were to guess it would likely be Aiz but I cannot tell for sure. Just ignore it. Whoever is receiving it has to know. That is the most intent stare I have felt not directed at me.'

"Yes-sa! Great job in the Dungeon, people! Time to cut loose! Drink up!"

Loki stood up from her chair, hoisting her first mug high into the air. Everyone else followed suit before clinking their glasses together and taking the first drink. Aiz held up her own glass, joining everyone else, but with a little less enthusiasm.

Food and more drinks started arriving; everything looked and smelled absolutely fantastic. Hands started flying everywhere, trying to grab as much as possible before it was too late. The grilled chicken and fruity wine were particularly sought after. Although the elder elf and human both skipped the latter.

"General, I'll pour you another drink."

"Ah, my thanks, Tione. But you know, this is the third time already. I'm not used to drinking this fast. Is this some kind of plan, getting me drunk?"

"Fu-fu, nothing at all. Now, try this one."

"That damn Amazon never changes…"

"Ah-HA! Gareth! I'm gonna drink ya under the table!"

"'At right? Right, then, I'll drink ya under the floor!"

"I do declare that the winner gets ta have playtime with Riveria's bosom!"

"I-I'll join in!"

"Me tooooo!"

"I'm in!" "Hiccup!—Then I'll join, too."

"General?!"

"L-Lady Riveria…"

"Allow me some say in this…"

"I feel a sudden and massive urge to apologize for my entire sex…" Shard muttered…

"Why? For trying to grope Riveria?"

"More for all being such lightweights."

"How can you compare if you don't drink?" Tione started the verbal brawl once more.

"I can judge based on others, also its based on math for the physical side, although I am unsure of how status affects it if at all"

"It doesn't" Loki chimed in

"That seems like an oversight… so we have no more resistance to drugs than normal?"

"Nope!"

"Wow…"

At this point Bete's voice drowned out all others.

"Oh yeah, Aiz! Tell that one story!"

Aiz didn't understand what he meant and tilted her head to the side.

"You know the one! About those Minotaurs that ran away on the way back! Remember, ya finished off the last one on the fifth floor? And then, ya know, Tomato Boy!"

"Minotaurs? Are you talking about the ones that attacked us on the seventeenth floor but all turned tail right away?"

"That, that! By some miracle, they all just kept going up an' we had to haul ass just ta catch up! All after two weeks in the Dungeon, too!"

Bete slammed his mug down onto the table and nodded vigorously when Tione asked for confirmation

'His voice' Shard thought… 'it's a drunken rage.' Shard decided not to interrupt for now, it was often easier to just let the person calm down first.

"Yeah, and there! That 'adventurer'! Damn newbie kid!"

Shard saw it immediately. The slightest twitch in Aiz's face. This story was bothering her

'Dammit,'

"Got himself cornered like a lil' bunny! Shakin' like one, too! Almost couldn't bear to watch!"

"Oh? What happened to the boy? Was he okay?"

"Aiz carved up that Mino at the last second, ain't that right?"

'Wait for the right moment. I have to stop Bete without anyone knowing this bothers Aiz'

"That kid took the full blast of that stinky cow's blood, got soaked! Looked like a bright-red tomato sitting in the Dungeon! So, Tomato Boy! Gya-ha-haha—Ow, my ribs…!"

"Whoa…"

"Aiz, please tell me you were trying to do that! You were, right? Please, I'm begging you…!"

"…No, I wasn't"

"Alright Bete, that's enough"

"Shut up Shard, let him finish"

'Damn it Tione.'

"And get this! Tomato Boy, he ran away, screaming his head off!…Geeh! Our princess rescues a boy, and he just buggers off!"

"…Keh."

"GYA-HA-HA-HA-HA! Absolutely priceless! Aizee scares away a newbie! You are soooo awesome!"

"Ha-ha-ha…S-sorry, Aiz. I can't take it…!"

"Ehhhh? Don't make those scary eyes. They're ruining your pretty face!" loki not getting it…

'God dammit loki. You are supposed to be a deity, not a drunken letch.'

"Been a long time since I've seen somethin' that pathetic, thought I was gonna puke! Makin' me cry just thinkin' about it!"

"…Hmmm."

"The hell was he doing anyway? If yer gonna cry like a little baby, ya shouldn't be down there in the first place! Ain't that right, Aiz?"

Aiz's hands clenched into fists beneath the table. She felt a gaze and turned to see Riveria with one eye closed and the other looking at her. Focusing on the gazes on her she noticed a softer one, thinking on it for a moment it had been there a while. Shard was staring adjacent to her as well. She could tell that they were the only two who could tell what was going on behind her porcelain mask.

"It's weak 'adventurers' like him who make us look bad. Just give it up already."

"That's quite enough, Bete! It was our fault that the Minotaurs escaped in the first place! That boy did nothing wrong! You have no right to make light of his trauma over ale! Learn some respect!"

Riveria was now glaring at Bete, eyebrows arching into a sharp frown. Tiona and the others now recognized the true meaning of the shiver in Aiz's shoulders, the flames growing in her eyes. However, the werewolf did not stop.

"Oh-oh! You elves and yer pride! But yeah, what's the purpose of protectin' a piece of work like that? Sayin' it's our fault, you're just tryin' to protect yer ego 'cause you feel guilty. Trash is trash! What's wrong with callin' it what it is?"

"Hey, hey, enough with this. Bete, Riveria, you're killin' the mood."

Even Loki stepping in wasn't enough to convince the werewolf to quiet down. Taking Riveria's outburst as a challenge, Bete's instincts took over. He didn't attempt to hide his laughter, fangs glistening in the magic-stone lamps' light as he looked back at Aiz.

"Huh, Aiz! What did ya think abo"

"Bete, you are the trash in this situation. You are a level 5, a high one at that and you couldn't keep a minotaur from escaping to floor f**king five."

"Shut up Sh"

"NO! YOU need to shut up right now. You failed and you are taking out your insecurity on a newbie. You just want to protect your own fragile eg"

The sentence was interrupted by a backhand…

'the alcohol made his motions unreadable.'

"If you want to fight me later you can. But back to my question. Aiz What did ya think about him, that pathetic piece 'a crap shaking in front of you? Does he deserve to stand at our level as adventurers?"

Now that the last attempt to intervene had failed aiz meekly responded.

"…I don't blame him for his reaction, under those circumstances."

"Why ya actin' all goody-two-shoes?…Fine, then, I'm changin' the question. Him or me—who's a better man?"

Even Finn was taken aback.

"…Bete, are you drunk?"

'And this is why you need me as an executive' Shard thought as he tried to stop the blood running from his nose. It would only take a few more seconds to subside.

"Shut it! Now, Aiz! Choose! As a female, which of us wags your tail? Which male makes ya all stirred up?"

As he wiped the last fresh blood he saw the rage on Aiz's face… normally reserved for monsters. Aimed at a person it was truly terrifying. Not that Bete cared.

"…I have no reason to answer that question. Especially to you."

"How absurd."

"Quiet, hag!…Well, then, if that kid came right now and said he liked ya, would ya take him?"

At this Aiz paused.

"See, of course ya wouldn't! Why would a tiny kid so weak, feeble, and all around nauseating be allowed to stand next to you? Most of all, you wouldn't let him."

At this point Shard glimpsed the source of Bete's strife and resolved to beat a lesson into him once he was sober. Almost realizing it himself Bete added in a qualifier.

"A tiny kid could never land Aiz Wallenstein."

Someone in the corner of the room stood up. "Bell?!" Syr called out.

Shard thought he recognized the boy in the dungeon… this confirmed it beyond the shadow of a doubt. Riveria could handle Aiz better than him, as close as they were some things in her head just didn't make sense to him. Bete could be dealt with later… preferably with a glaive. The kid needed help the most. So while everyone else was gang piling Bete Shard walked up to Mama Mia and Syr

"Bell huh?"

"Dine and dash."

"I'm sure it was a misunderstanding"

As Syr said that Shard had an idea.

"Mama mia?"

"Yes shard."

"What was the boy's bill?"

"I can't let you pay for him, he skipped out, it's his burden not yours."

"What was the bill?"

"1350 valis."

Getting money out mama mia furrowed her brow

"I said I won't accept it."

"Just hold it… if he comes back please let me cover it… if not, think of it as a gift for your continuous good customer service."

"Fine."

Aiz was still outside. Looking at the way she was staring Shard could tell that the boy was headed to the dungeon.

With a slight sigh and a gentle pat on the shoulder Shard ran off to the only place where a desperate (lovestruck?) fanboy could go after being so lambasted by one of the top adventurers in the world. The dungeon.

As Shard walked through the first floor unarmed and unarmored he remembered his first week learning on this floor, at the time He and Aiz were both level 1, low status too. The monsters here were terrifying despite their small stature and clumsy movements. Well, terrifying to Shard. Aiz knew no fear. The others were all level 2 or higher. With the exception of a single minder for the first few weeks Shard and Aiz faced these things mostly alone that first year and change. Slowly progressing down the upper floors, until Aiz finally gained level two a year in. Beating the previous record of two years by a wide margin. After another 8 months Shard joined. Aiz was always one step ahead. She was driven like a woman possessed and was blessed with the most overpowered combination of stats and abilities known to man.

Before he knew it Shard had cleared the first two floors. Those were by far the smallest. 'If the kid was capable of going to level 5 with armor he should be able to get to at least level 3 with just a knife.'

After clearing floors 3 and 4 Shard started to get nervous.

'Please don't be dead kid. That would seriously suck.'

Floor 5 gone.

'He went deeper… with no equipment, and with only 1 ½ days of status increase. Does this kid have a death wish.'

Shard knew the kid would hit a wall at floor 6. That was where war shadow's started appearing. Even if somehow he was strong enough to get past in theory without any experience they were deadly and durable foes.

'F***. How far down did this kid get, he didn't have that much of a head start.'

As shard entered the 6th floor he focused his ears.

'Hear the footsteps. See what is needed'

Shard focused. There was a commotion further in… the footsteps were similar. He blitzed forward towards the commotion. Just before he turned the bend he stopped.

'There were 17 distinct sounds here. Now there are 7. The kid is slaughtering them.'

Turning the corner he saw the young boy covered in monster blood, and some of it his own. He was clearly beat up. Based on the gem's he had slain two waves of war shadows on this floor alone not to mention a slew of other monsters.

By now it was 12:30ish, hard to tell in the dungeon. But Shard always had a decent internal clock.

"Hey kid."

"Hi!"

His face was now also red, Shard was instantly sure that if his injuries didn't prevent it the kid would have ran away immediately.

"You're name is Bell right?"

"Yes, sir"

"It's Shard. It's ok if you forgot."

"I didn't forget sir. I found out after you left who you were. I just feel more comfortable calling you sir… sir"

"Well don't, I don't know where you are from but you don't answer to me and it makes me feel weird when you call me that."

"Okay… Shard?"

"That's fine."

At this point Bell collapsed slightly and Shard caught him.

"Hey kid, I didn't come all this way for you to die on me. Let's get you outta here."

As he aided Bell up the levels Shard began to attempt to right the wrongs of his family.

"I formally apologize for Bete's remarks."

"You don't have to, they are true."

"No they aren't. I've seen you fight, just a little bit, for a newbie you are very skilled. Furthermore you went down 6 floors in 16 days without armor and only seemed a little over your head. That is truly exceptional progress."

"But I am still so weak."

"Everyone is born a level 0, 9/10 or more never receive a blessing. Of those only about 4/10 ever reach level 2. The ratio isn't much better for the higher levels either. Weak compared to veterans with over a decade of experience each is nothing to be ashamed of."

Bell's face ignited with s cherry blush and slight smile

"But don't give up on your dreams kid, you have as much potential as any of us did when we were as fresh as you, maybe even more. Just try not to overextend yourself. In order to realize said potential, you kinda need to live."

"Yes si… Shard."

Now at the entrance to the dungeon Shard let the kids arm go.

"You can make it home from here right?"

"Yes."

"The benevolent mistress is closed… but you should probably not get on their bad side."

"I'll go pay then tomorrow morning and apologize."

"Good idea. Night kid."

"Goodnight Shard."

Back at the twilight manor Bete was suffering. Tiona in particular reveled in the punishment of the wolf man. By the time Shard walked in the front door almost all of the loki familia was asleep. Aiz was still up.

"Hey Aiz."

"Hi Shard."

"You doin okay?"

"Mmm."

"That's not an answer Aiz."

"Mmm."

"Is this about your status growth?"

"?"

"I don't know the exact details but you have been level 5 for three years. Heck I finally closed the level gap again. My guess is you still need more excelia for growth and that your Status has likely hit it's effective limit."

"It is as you say."

Her eyes furrowed telling shard that although that was bothering her it wasn't the only thing.

"How many status points did you get on the expedition Shard?"

Though normally a taboo even within a familia Aiz and Shard frequently compared their status and growth. It was useful for both of them, each using the other as a pacer. Shard as the pursuer and Aiz as the pursued.

"I don't want you to feel bad."

"Tell me."

"108 points not counting magic."

"16" Aiz muttered barely audible… to anyone else.

"I see. And I am guessing in spite of frequent tempests your magic also went up by 0?"

A slight nod was the sole response.

"Well. You should be near 6 then. It is probably less than a year out. If you work for it."

"That's… what I told myself last year, and the year before tha."

"Hmm, maybe you need a smaller party."

"What?"

"It's a theory I had, Finn has heard it too. A theory on rapid growth. As you know, defeating an enemy stronger than yourself gives you the type of excelia needed to level. However if you do so in a party than it is divided based on participation using a formula we do not at all know. The theory goes like this. As you add more members to the party you reduce the relative challenge. So to use arbitrary numbers… let's say you need 10 points to level and a stronger enemy gives you 10. In a party of two common theory says you should both gain 5 points. But it might be less than that. The base amount might be reduced to 9 before distribution. A counterbalance to disincentivize the massive teams used in expeditions."

"So I have to do it alone?"

"Maybe, probably just with a normal party, 3-4 instead of the dozen we rock. Of course that magnifies the risk."

Shard was putting it lightly. The bosses usually required dozens to take down. Even with the entire team taking down high level bosses was a challenge. Aiz realized this as well. What Shard proposed was basically suicidal… well unless you're Shard.

Shard had a reputation in the loki familia… although only one was public knowledge all but one of Shard's levels came from the true test of an adventurer. A solo fight at an overwhelming disadvantage. One of them, a duel against a level 4 amazoness was the fight that earned him his last title. Aiz hadn't borne witness to the battle but Bete had… it was the reason that (when fully possessing his faculties) Bete was loath to aggravate the deep brown haired bladesman. Aiz didn't see the first time either, a battle with a minotaur. The last one in a group. She engaged them but the last one blindsided her, one lucky hit to the head and she went down. Somehow he pulled off the win against a beast a full level ahead of him, and caught up in level for the first, but far from the last time.

'I won't leave you alone.' his words echoed in her mind from all those years ago.

At this point Shard's eyes began to droop.

"I hope you feel better. Goodnight Aiz."

Aiz sat in silence.

The next morning Shard made sure to be up early. After his morning routine he brought a chair to Bete's room and waited. Upon seeing the sun he started knocking rapidly and heavily. After a minute of this he heard the response. "Wus goin oon? Who wan to die!"

Bete's hungover ramble stopped as he opened the door.

"If I recall you said we were going to spar tomorrow… get ready."

Bete gulped. Shard had not been there to punish him like the others did last night. Was this his plan for retribution? If so as bruised and hungover as he was Bete knew he would be disadvantaged even compared to the far lower status man. Normally the gentle slender giant didn't scare him in the slightest, unlike the bosses and Aiz. However he gritted his teeth and resolved to give as good as he got.

"Fine, northwest wall, ten minutes."

As Bete geared up he focused on what he had done last night. As he thought it returned to him, he got drunk, and then… went off about a kid. He was a weakling but the purpose was originally just to tell a story of something that made him laugh. Aiz was unreadable except for Riveria who was basically her mother and Shard who gets to cheat in the expression reading game. They tried to get him to back down, at the time he assumed they were simply trying to cover their own ego and reputation respectively. After the brutalization at the hands of the twins and Riveria it was clear that Aiz was the issue.

'Why should she be upset. The kid is irrelevant to her. She admitted it herself by refusing to say she would date him. Why did I go there… I was drunk… and I do like her. But even so I normally am in far better control than that.'

He reached the top to find the softest of the team spinning his new blade.

'Haven't got the feel for it yet. Normally I would take it in with all my senses. However someone might have damaged my nose. It seems like it's a bit off today.'

'I was drunk.'

'That was your choice.'

Bete readied himself.

'So' as Shard spoke he swung his glaive tassels creating a colorful show alongside the shiny metal.

'You have romantic feelings for Aiz'

Bete blocked the strike, it was slower than he expected. Shard was holding back. For some reason he felt unable to lie.

"Yes."

"That's ok, no sane man would not at least have a passing crush on her." Another swing another block.

"That include you?" Bete launched a kick.

"We both know I'm not sane." He redirected it with the end of the staff forcing Bete to leap back. As he recovered the blade was already upon him. Raising his foot he kicked heel to blade. It was sharper than before, but when force encountered force between the two there could be only one winner. Sent into recoil Shard's statements, unlike his body remained uninterrupted.

"Besides, she's like a sister to me at this point. However I noticed what you said at the bar."

"I said... " Bete glowered as he lunged "I WAS DRUNK"

Sidestepping casually Shard made an incision in one of the gaps of Bete's armor.

"AUGH"

"A drunk person is still the same, for the most part. Being drunk removes inhibitions, the you from that night is in there, and you need to learn how to face it."

"What do you mean" Bete stood back up, bleeding from his left leg slightly.

"I'm no therapist so I'll be blunt." Bete launched a kick, pressuring shard back.

"You feel that you are not worthy of Aiz because she is stronger than you."

"That's bulshit" Bete exclaimed increasing the pace of the attacks hoping to overwhelm the slower man in front of him.

"Loki would accept it. So would the bosses. Only Tiona would object and you are not normally the type to fear rejection." Shard's voice grew more strained at the flury, it was taxing to keep up.

"Therefore the only reason that you have not asked Aiz out, given how much you want her, is entirely due to your own feelings of unworthiness." Seeing an opening Shard made another cut on Bete's left arm.

"You're wrong". Bete said, muted somewhat. He kicked as fast as he could now hoping to make an opening… this was usually when he begins to break down

"Sure. Just remember, worth is entirely determined by your own standards. If you determine what worth is, you can always find a way to value yourself. Perhaps there is value other than raw power." Leaping straight back Shard slowed the fight for a second.

"That's all I would like to say for now, might I request assistance in my concurent casting?"

Bete looked at himself for a moment.

"Like this."

"We both know I need you this slow to do it."

"Fine."

Bete began his assault again at full force.

 _I call upon the gift I had forgone._

Shard dodged again but while casting and dodging launching attacks was far slower giving Bete far more opportunities to apply pressure to the other warrior. As the next line began Bete saw an opening.

 _I call upon the gods, demons, and all other forces of_

A kick to the stomach interrupted the cast. As Shard flew back to the wall Bete heard

 _This world._

'He held it, this just got interesting' Bete grinned at the sight. In the time he lost Shard had already begun the next line.

 _I call upon them through and for access to the inalienable._

Bete launched himself forward once more, the cast took forever, longer than even Riveria's longest spell by a good margin. A few more hits should do it. This time Shard dodged but was now on all fours

 _Though this violates natural law and humility…_ Shard launched straight up to avoid bete's next kick _... it is endowed to me through divine providence, and through my own will._

Bete began to sweat. This had gone on too long. Leaping in the air after him Bete Readied his next kick. There was no way for the Wannabe mage to dodge now.

Speeding up Shard braced himself for the incoming blow.

 _Now return me from my winding road, bring my mind to bear._

As he finished the sentence the blow came. A heavy kick to the stomach. Bete then took advantage of the ariel momentum and spun kicking Shard downwards into the stone wall's rampart.

Though conscious still, Shard had lost the spell.

"That was close man" Bete had an unusually sage look on his face. For once more human than wolf.

"You almost had me worried there for a second."

Shard smiled "Hey, one of these days it will work."

"You're scary enough already, we don't need to add **That** to what you pull in every fight."

Most animosity forgotten Bete helped Shard up.

"However you feel about her, or about your actions last night. You should apologize to Aiz, you don't owe the kid anything but she is your co-worker, friend, and familia member. I'll make sure Tiona let's you."

"Yeah, I might take you up on that. I need some time to figure out exactly what to say though."

"It's ok man, I won't tell the others about your sensitive side."

"I don't have a sensitive side."

Shard laughed loudly "You're probably right, good thing I have one for both of us."

By the time Shard and Bete arrived at the manor all of the others were already up and about doing their business.

That was part three. Thank you all for reading and as always feedback is appreciated.


	4. Chapter 4

Hello and welcome to part 4. Thank you to everyone who is reading this :). Two small notes. Although I do like the style for conversation I have been using, I am uncertain of my ability to adequately convey who is saying what so in the meantime I shall be adding in who is speaking in parentheses when appropriate. Furthermore if it was not obvious this SI of me does not have meta knowledge of the world. (all other memories are fully intact though).

Year 10 Month 1 Part 4

Looking around the hall it seemed that most of the other 1st class adventurers had left. The only people who were currently in the hall were a hungover Loki A bruised Shard and several low level adventurers. Shard approached the 5 level two's, as third tier adventurers they had the anxiousness around the A team that the few level one's in the loki familia had. However those who had earned their second level from within the familia at least knew enough about the 1st class team to realize they were more quirky than dangerous at most times. As he reached the table the 5 girls stood up.

Recalling their names Shard looked at each of them in terms of seniority.

"Ayla" looking at the tall blonde elven warrior. Only 16 he remembered but 3 years in the dungeon, she was in Shard's estimation what the Sword princess would have been without the wind on her side. Still potent but not oppressively powerful.

"Fidia" The somewhat short of stature amazon looked up, only 155 celch tall. Her muscles were tight but she was stronger than most dwarves of the same level. She dual wielded a sword and flail in a way that reminded Shard of the witch king of angmar.

"Elena" The youngest in the group by age having started at only 9, the waif like human was another upcoming mage, not as powerful as Lefiya but with potential still. Her spells were of a less destructive nature favoring a series of buffs. Through practice she had almost entirely eliminated the recovery time between her casts so her single target buffs could be better used in combat. Her hazel eyes and auburn hair were clean enough to be a child actress even with the slightly lesser bodily maintenance this world had to offer.

"Ayda" The other black haired elf was the oldest having only started at age 17 making her 19 now. A body more voluptuous than loki's normal tastes accompanied her. That, combined with her interest in polearms resulted in a relatively close mentoring from Shard. In fact he lent her the valis for her halberd. A Guan Dao variant from the far east not to dissimilar from the glaive Shard was accustomed too from 14 years of usage.

"Mia" The human woman was new, only arrived a few days ago. She wore heavy armor and wielded a conventional greatsword. Shard had long ago learned to not associate muscle with strength as the falna rendered physical muscle of little importance especially above the first level.

"We haven't met before?" Mia questioned his knowledge of her name, her crimson hair flowing with just the gentle breeze indoors.

Before Shard could respond His disciple defended him.

"As an executive of the loki familia, Shard is tasked with many things including personnel. Fortunately for a genius like him keeping track of a few names is the easiest part of that."

Shard laughed in his head, a slightly above average intelligence in his own world, a partial college education and 10 years as a kid again left him with a knowledge base comparable to older characters already noted for their intelligence.

"I however, do not fully know your role in the dungeon. If I recall you have been in the upper floors already?" Shard continued trying to get things back on track.

"Yes sir! I apologize for not recognizing my superior."(Mia)

"It's fine, now Ayla" (Shard)

"Yes?" (Ayla)

"I am putting you in charge of the logistics of this trip we will be taking tomorrow. I left a list by your room of things that we shall need but I urge you to be careful not to waste familia funds on overpriced or substandard merchandise."(Shard)

 _Gulp_ "Yes sir." (Ayla)

"You have free reign to assign relevant tasks to Fidia, Elena and Ayda as you see fit. However I hold you solely responsible for the state of preparation." Shard liked this dynamic. It forced the leader to actually use leadership skills as success and failure was entirely linked to them.

"Yes sir." Ayla said as she and the others except Mia left.

"What about me sir?" Mia asked, her emerald eyes quaking gently.

"I am going to test what you can do." Shard stated walking with her to the yard.

'This is crazy' Mia thought. She had joined the loki familia the day they started their last expedition but she had learned from the topside level 2's some general notes on the top tier of adventurers. The leadership were world famous as was the sword princess, the others though near universally known in the city were not well known in farther lands. She learned as much as she could about the twin amazons and the wolf man. However the human who had recently leveled seemed insignificant compared to those titans. She recognized him of course but she did not know how he fought or what he was capable of.

"Are you ready?" Shard asked wielding a quarterstaff while unarmored.

"Yes." Mia replied her hands trembling along the length of her familial sword, a weapon for an adventurer a tier or two higher and made of mithril to channel magic. The weapon's name written along the blade. 'Firelink Blade'

"Then attack me." Shard commanded.

As Mia rushed him Shard adjusted his speed accordingly. Gently deflecting her heavy and slow swings as he occasionally tapped her in areas where she left openings.

After minutes of this the heavy armor and constant swings mixed with the gentle blows began to take their toll on Mia.

'And he is clearly holding back dammit.' her body was tired as her head filled with rage at herself. 'And he is the weakest of this tier as well. This power is overwhelming.'

"Your form is somewhat sloppy." Shard noted

"I am guessing you have never encountered anything you could not brute force your way through with blade or spell. This will not work in the future. You must learn precision. I have been intentionally keeping my movements slower than yours this whole time and yet you still cannot land a hit."

'Slower than me!' she screamed internally 'to me it felt like he was moving faster than lightning, am I really that bad at this?'

"Yes sir." She replied defeated.

"On the other hand" He grinned. "You seem to hit very hard, also from the public section of your roster you appear to have combat magic."

Beaming she giddily asked "Can I show you?" 'please, anything to recover this embarrassment' she left unsaid.

"Sure, let's go to the 6th floor for now."

On their way Shard saw the white haired boy bell again, this time he was farming on the 4th floor, uncharacteristically safe for the young man.

"So what are your spells?" Shard asked unable to hide his curiosity any longer.

As a war shadow approached she began her cast.

" _Flame of heaven, spear of light, cast this fire from this knight. Flame lance!"_

As the cast competed she pointed her blade at the shadow and a massive column of flame erupted from her blade incinerating the shadow.

"As you can see, it has two effects." Mia stated as shard looked at her blade that was now wreathed in flames.

"In addition to the blast the blade is covered in a flaming aura for a couple minutes increasing my damage output."

"Do you have any other spells?" Shard asked

"Yes, but the other spell is simply a self heal. You are right of course about my clumsiness. My strategy has almost always been to trade blows with monsters using my healing to keep me going."

"That's not necessarily a bad strategy with your combination of abilities." Shard observed. "For me that would be infeasible, no healing spell requires a more tactical view on combat."

"You can use magic right Shard?" Mia wondered.

"Yes."

"May I see you cast it?"

Shard sighed. "My magic is not like most. One of its many limitations is it's mind usage. I have yet to cast the spell and not suffer mind down after it's conclusion. However when we kill the goliath tomorrow I will be using it to secure the kill."

Now more excited than ever Mia asked "What does it do? Does it flood the room with lava, conjure lightning, summon a swarm of meteors?"(mia)

"None of the above."(Shard)

"Tell me."(Mia)

"No"(Shard)

"Please?"(Mia)

"No."(Shard)

"Fine" Mia pouted as Shard laughed.

"You'll see it tomorrow so what's the big deal."(Shard)

"You are just keeping it mysterious for no reason."(Mia)

"Yes."(Shard)

"Augh"(Mia)

Quickly changing the topic Shard Said "Hey, are you hungry?"

"It's only 10:30?" Mia looked up at the man quizzically.

"I'm hungry, let's get something to eat." Shard began walking out of the dungeon

"Fine. Hey wait up!" Mia raced after him

Shard decided to go to the fried potato stand. The banquet of the gods was to start later that week, most new gods and goddesses attended at least one early on to be entered into the fold. However poorer gods, like ones that worked at food stands, instead often kept with their familia in order to maintain morale and manage their limited money. As he handed her the money he said.

"Thank you goddess Hestia."

Blinking she asked "Have we met?"

"Two weeks ago, I am a high level loki familia adventurer named Shard, this is a newer member named Mia."

"Hi." Mia added.

"I purchased a potato here before we started our expedition."

Hestia blushed "I'm sorry I didn't remember you Shard."

"It's fine, I wouldn't remember me either. Mia?"

"Yes Shard?"

"I would appreciate it if you found a place for us to eat these, though good without a table they can be messy."

"Yes sir." Her face bearing the slightest amount of disappointment.

"So Hestia."

"Yes?"

"Bell Cranel." The look on her face confirmed his guess, a newbie with an unsealed status on his back with only guild loaned equipment, a soft face and even softer demeanor was a dead ringer for a new goddess who worked at a potato stand for lack of any practical skill or high income familia members.

"What about him?" The goddess's brow furrowed with confusion and a hint of rage

"So he is your child?"

"Yes, what about him?" More rage flooded her face this time.

"I just wanted to say that he is a great kid. I haven't had much interaction with him but he shows great potential." Her face turned into one of worry, all anger subsiding.

"He is reckless, he went down to the 6th floor by himself yesterday!" She tried to cover for his talent as if she was nervous about it. Shard began to wonder, 'what about the boy is being hidden. He used no magic, if it were an allied buff spell it would be unknown and would not draw attention. It's his growth, his progress, that is notable. Development abilities are out too as they do not begin to appear until level two. It must be a skill, a rare skill that somehow increases his abilities so he can dive deeper, and grow faster than the average person. She was right to be afraid, most familia's would go to great lengths to pressure the boy out of her hands if they knew.'

Leaning in Shard whispered "Your secret is safe with me."

The goddess looked at him, shocked at his apparent knowledge and simply said "Thank you" while he walked away.

"What was that about?" Mia asked as he sat down.

"Friendly conversation." Shard replied.

"Why don't you tell me anything?"

"Because you make a cute expression when you are frustrated." Though not the real reason as her face blushed with annoyance and her brow gently furrowed Shard knew it was still true.

"Now, a more pertinent question, what is your status?" Shard redirected towards her development.

" lvl2 obviously, 893 strength, 827 endurance, 519 agility, 500 dexterity and 788 magic."(Mia)

"Any development abilities?"(Shard)

"Hunter and abnormal resistance both at i"(Mia)

"Skills?"(Shard)

"Oh, right. You didn't get to see it. I have a time based mage ability. Every minute in combat before I cast my fist spell I gain a rank in it. Hypothetically in 10 minutes I could apply a rank s mage ability to my lance."

Shard's eyes widened. A rank s mage development even with her shorter spell would be stronger than lady riveria's blasts.

"So you have a potent magical attack that is ridiculously circumstantial and takes a ludicrous time to charge?" Shard spoke with all his sarcasm

"Pretty much yea."

"Gee, if only I knew someone else like that…" He pointed at himself while saying this.

"... what does your spell do?"

"Just eat your potato."

After they finished they walked around town, in particular the poorer area of daedalus street. She noticed that Shard was stopping to donate to the orphanages and other charities in the poorest part of Orario. 'This was so much easier when I could do it through a credit card Shard thought.'

Mia was in constant shock from this adventurer. The decade long veteran was not a standout to her when her friends in the familia described the loki familia A team. He seemed like the standard back line big guy in all the stories who died first to show the villain was the real deal. He wasn't like that at all though. He wasn't buff outside the slender definitions of it. He was too soft as well in spite of him teasing her relentlessly. She had underestimated the brown haired man. A mistake that she would not make with any of the other leaders. She thought about what his most devoted pupil Ayda said about him. "He genuinely believes in the good of people."

Mia thought that was naive, and she was right.

"Why go to all the effort? Training newer members is the job of gareth finn and riviera."

"Two reasons. I am one of the people who is likely to have that responsibility in the future so I need the practice, and I enjoy bringing out the true potential of people under my tutelage."

Surprised by the direct answer she did not have a follow up.

The next day.

Shard watched lazily as the girls cleared the dungeon, until they got to the boss on 17 he was not supposed to interfere. As expected they rapidly tore through most of the monsters until the stronger 2nd level ones like minotaurs appeared. Even then 5 level twos turned them into mincemeat.

"Alright floor 17 ladies" Shard said. "Remember the plan?"

Ayda replied "Distract the boss until you cast, watch in awe for a few seconds, then drag your unconscious body down to floor 18 without molesting you?"

Shard could not help but gulp at that last add in of hers "Yep." He could have sworn his voice was an octave higher at his student's teasing.

As they walked to the goliath's chamber all of them tensed slightly. Even for a level 5 soloing the goliath was by no means an easy task. At least Shard had the good fortune of being able to utilize his most potent skill.

As Shard began casting the 5 level 2's rushed forward utilizing sword, spell and will to hold back the beast. After over a minute of casting, chanting was not something your could belt out too quickly Shard finished the spell.

After a full day in the area just below the 18th floor the party returned to the surface. By now Riveria had "fixed" Aiz and the party saw her on their way back up. As they walked back in they saw something new, loki in a dress.

"Hey, you didn't need to get this fancy just for me?" Shard immediately began the verbal duel.

"As if I would ever consider you." Loki grinned thinking the obvious response clever.

"What everyone thinks of when you propostion them. But seriously, what is the occasion?"

Frowning loki mutters "The banquet of the gods by Ganesha."

"But you hate that. What changed."

Loki smiled "I head that a new goddess who I have disagreements with has arrived. She is likely poor as she is so small and skill less."\

"Hestia." Shad guessed seeing the rage build on loki's face confirmed it.

"How do you know her?!" for a second the power of the being before him was hinted at causing him to involuntarily shiver.

"Bought potatoes from the stand she works at, seems nice. Do you just not like nice people, or are you insecure about something?" As he said that Shard made sure to stare directly at loki's chest leaving no room for doubt about what he meant.

Loki's roar was the que for shard to leave.

That's it for this chapter. I for some reason i'm still belting these ones out. The reason this chapter took longer is because I am trying to force myself to write for the other works I have. Thanks everyone for reading.


	5. Chapter 5

Hello and welcome to part 5: I am going back to first person. After the last couple chapters I decided it fits better for a self insert. Also I am going to start adding in subtitles as given my current progress, the first month could take 8 or more parts. That's all for now, here is the chapter :)

Year ten Month one part 5: Monsterphobia

When loki returned she was drunk, her red face hiding what I could clearly see were tears. Apparently her bout with Hestia did not go as planned.

"It's ok Loki, you don't have to update my status today if you don't want to." In truth I was anxious, soloing a boss surely increased my status immensely but I had to take her feelings into account.

"No *hic* let's do it now." Loki's eyes opened slightly revealing her normal perverse gaze.

"No groping Loki. We can wait till tomor." She cut me off speaking angrily.

"Like I would ever waste the effort to molest you Shard."

Sighing I conceded that round to the trickster "Fine, let's do it."

Once we were alone I took out one of my healing potions.

"It'll keep you functional and mitigate the hangover." Though both were true generally it was considered a massive waste to use a potion, the cheapest of which were hundreds of valis, to heal the intended result of binge drinking. But I wasn't taking chances, if 2500 valis ensured loki didn't accidently slit her wrist attempting to prick her finger it was worth it.

"Alright." Loki's voice chimed in, now only mildly tipsy. "You know the drill."

I took my top off again and lay down on the table waiting.

"A few days solo carrying rookies and a boss fight, let's see what that got ya."

I felt the changes as she closed the status. Normally someone would need to test it, but my senses were so keen when I focused that I could feel the muscles weaving more fibers, the nerve's becoming more receptive, even the magic could be sensed.

"Alright" Loki finished writing my status down onto the paper. "I'll admit this cheered me up slightly."

Shard Soulspear

Level 5

Strength: I 21-53

Endurance: I 10-28

Dexterity: H 45-101

Agility: I 32 - 76

Magic: H 0 -198

Hunter: H, Grace H, Abnormal Resistance I, Fist strike I, Glaive Wielder H

Skills: Perceptive: improves all 6 senses immensely and improves reaction time. Can be toggled off.

Precise Blows: Adds Dexterity contribution to attack damage in addition to strength.

Magic: _**REDACTED BY AUTHOR**_

Loki breathed in deeply before stating "348 points. I think that might be a record." I remembered my record well, eight and a half years ago.

"Close, but not quite. My record is still an even 400."

"And this is why I am glad I let finn keep you all those years ago."

"I thought it was for my winning personality."

Loki smiled slightly, almost motherly for an instant "That too."

At this point I heard Aiz enter the twilight manor.

"Your favorite is back."

At this Loki got a bottle of wine and began intentionally spilling small amounts on herself.

"How drunk do I look, more importantly smell?"

"Very, what's your plan boss lady?"

"Hmm, I don't know yet, but it is always best to be prepared."

As she left I loudly shouted after her "Go get her tiger."

After Loki was out of sight I focused on Ayda. The fairy woman was currently reading in the garden. I quickly walked there. When you are a level 5 a power walk is faster than most people's jog.

Large ears do have their advantages as she hears my approach.

"Hello Shard." Ayda put her book down with a bright smile on her face.

"Whacha doin?" I asked. Still habitually imitating Isabella after all of these years.

"Just reading."

"What about?"

"How to rapidly increase Status. My growth last mission was very low."

"May I see." I knew it was taboo, but I suspected with her crush on me she would agree.

She blushed "O-okay." In the world of adventurers, sharing status was generally taboo. Verbal statements were one thing, they could be bluster, or intentional manipulation. However the status itself was kept secret, even from other familia members. We walked into the nearby armory to be away from any random errant eyes. She took off her top, nothing I wasn't used to here, revealing the loki tattoo covering her status. I looked closely, the bonds were their unless released by our goddess… or so most would think. In truth the status could not be erased, only rearranged. Each hieroglyph was distinct from the last even when bent and merged.I could not make it out but I could revert it. After fiddling for a minute (not copping a feel because I am NOT loki) I finally was able to revert it to the normal glyphs. As I read it out I saw the following

Ayda Sue

Level 2

Strength: B 732

Endurance: C 637

Dexterity: A 800

Agility: B 721

Magic: 0

Hunter I, Abnormal resistance I,

Skills: Lady of war : Gains bonus dexterity equal to half of all dexterity statuses

"Hmm" I thought, the obvious answer coming out first. "Maybe you've hit your soft cap."

"Huh?"

"In status there are diminishing returns, you know what those are right?"

"Of course, each point takes more than the last."

I cut her off (unintentionaly) "The returns do drop with every point but with the largest drops being at each new letter grade. However they are based on the person, this is why exceptionally weak looking boys and girls might have trouble finding a familia. It is rare for a person's physicality to be unrelated to the decay of stat growth. There are two caps. Everyone knows you cannot go above 999 status. However few ever hit that. This is because of the soft cap." Though still interested Ayda made a gesture to get to the point.

"You need to level."

Putting her shirt back on she stared at me with an engineered… but still effective cute stare.

"Can you help me?" The timed blinks though predictable still had the desired effect.

"Sigh, yes… but not today. After monsterphilia I'll try to arrange more trips to the floors under the under resort. I can't help you get the level, but I can at least make sure you don't die doing so."

"Thank you!" She exclaimed her eyes gleaming with pride in her manipulation and excitement at the potential the future held.

I chuckled in my head, the dungeon ages a person. Not physically, but in the outlook. It was rare to find a veteran who did not have a cynical side somewhere. The youth of the lower level adventurers, at least the ones with the will to advance, always shined through even amongst the darkest and edgiest of them. At this point the white haired boy entered my mind, his innocence was more shocking than his progress, usually those who come to Orario have some bagage, a necessary feature for the most dangerous job in the most dangerous city. Bell however was clean. It was as if there was a bubble around him, keeping the worst of the world away from his mind.

After training Ayda and I walked around the town, both of us disliked monsterphilia but the stands were still notable. Right now they were just being set up as the event started tomorrow. I found the monsters boring, from what I could tell Ayda found the event ghoulish but I did not wish to ask for details. Loki had managed to force Aiz to go on a date with her for the event, the only reason either would attend. Bete would likely be training. The man worked harder than I did, although I would like to think I work smarter. The three of us have semi celebrity status, unlike the level 6's though we are not overly revered. We are still viewed as people, albeit the pinnacle of what it means to be an adventurer. Bete was viewed as a brute, but a champion of the value of will and effort. Aiz was almost deified as a beacon of stoicism and beauty. The former trait made those who knew the silly airhead laugh. I was known as a loveable goof that was proof you could retain a smile after a decade of near death experiences piled back to back and still wish to spread them to others.

As we walked around I saw the boy on my mind walking home from the dungeon. As I was setting the pace and direction I led us after him, 'he turned around… damnit, my gaze was gentle. His 6th sense is nearly as in tune as mine. What could have caused him to be this alert.'

"Hello Bell." I said hiding my flurry of emotions behind a massive smile.

"Hello Shard." He replied, focusing on Ayda.

"Oh, right, This is Ayda. She is another member of the loki familia under my tutelage."

"Nice to meet you." After Ayda said this Bell stuck out his hand before pulling it away his face red

"I'm sorry. I forgot" I could tell he was referring to the touch averseness of most elves.

"It's ok." She calmed the now panicking boy.

"Are you heading home?" I asked hoping my presumption was correct.

"Yes." He had regained his composure, set at ease by me. As I looked at his face I guessed he was nervous around the new woman I had with me.

"Alright then, tell Hestia I said hi and that I apologize for anything loki said to her at the banquet." His face dropped at this.

"What's wrong?" I asked, now concerned "is something wrong?"

"It's nothing." Bless his heart the boy could not lie to save his life.

"If you can't tell me that's fine but don't lie to me" I put on my intimidating face and voice. "I can always tell when someone is lying and it makes me… upset."

Bell gulped. "I'm sorry sir but I cannot tell you."

Shard nodded. "I understand. Ayda let's go."

As we walked off I began to wonder if he was in some sort of trouble… what kind of trouble could such a sweet kid be in. It was probably something minor.

"Hey Ayda?" No matter how often one does this it really doesn't get easier.

"Yes?" Her face tinged slightly red, a sign I would have missed when I was younger.

"I know you don't like monsterphilia, I don't either, and we don't have to go in the colosseum, but…" I trailed off for a second as I could feel my own face go red.

"There is a lot of stuff to do there and I was wondering if you would like to go with me."

Her blush faded and she looked at me with a coy expression "Like a date Mr. Shard?"

"Umm, yes. If you want to." I kept myself from stammering and rambling but only just.

"I would love too." Despite having near perfect confidence in her reply I still felt the weight leave my shoulders as she said that.

As we arrived back at the twilight manor Loki was waiting for us. I started the ritual this time.

"Hello goddess of perversion."

"Hey. I'm not Freya." She had the playfully indignant face I was used to.

"True, she is pretty." I added a listful gaze to imply my desire for loki's relative and in practice only true rival.

"I'll see you inside." Ayda whispered. Before entering the main hall.

"At least I got a date tomorrow." Normally Shard would concede the fight here but he decided to go all out.

"So do I, and my date is voluntary."

"Whaaaa?" Loki's eyes flew open. "Forget this back and forth! Who is she?! Who is she?!"

"You just saw her walk by." I replied calmly.

"But she's actually beautiful, and smart, and has such a large… personality. And you are, well, you."

"I know, I know. Turns out my personality is a surprisingly effective factor."

Loki gained an evil grin. "Your so naughty Shard, abusing your position to gain access to the girl… have you no shame."

At this I walked inside firing off the last word "I guess I'm closer to you than I thought goddess." Her embarrassment at being similar to me was something I could feel in her gaze as I went upstairs to wash up before dinner.

As I entered the room I quickly found Aiz. "My condolences, I hear you are going to be conscripted into a date with Loki."

Her face was as blank as usual. "Yes I have."

"Good luck with that." I said with a laugh as I walked away.

"What are you laughing at!" Tione rises with an indignant expression on her face.

"So, Tione." I kept my voice low, practically whispering in her ear. "Did you ask the captain out for monsterphilia yet?"

She then swung at me, her fists hit hard but not when striking empty air.

"Come now Tione." I laughed again. "Let's be civil at dinner at least."

Tiona finally noticed and joined in, gently pulling her away. As they walked away I went to join Ayda all the while listening to what they were saying.

"You let him rile you to easily sister."

"This is coming from you, you can't go 5 words with Bete without an argument."

"True, but I can at least avoid trying to punch him in public, in our own home no less."

"You don't understand!" Though her intensity increased her volume dropped. "He mocked my affection for the captain."

"Hmm, and why would he do that?" Tiona asked.

"Because he is a malicious sneaky jerk." Tione rationalized.

"Hmm, so he just walked up to you out of the blue and said that?" Tiona gently guiding her sister, although on the surface Tiona was the excitable one in truth she was capable of great depth in her thought.

"No…" Tione hesitated for just a moment before continuing "But he was mocking Aiz. I could not let that stand."

"Are you sure?" Tiona continued her socratic questions impressing me more by the minute.

"He laughed at her situation, being compelled to date loki on monsterphilia." Tione slowly was becoming less and less sure of herself as this conversation continued.

"Hmm, how would you describe the relationship between Aiz and Shard Tione? Are they lovers, friends, family? Which are they really, do you think."

Tione gulped… "I guess, they would be family." Now realizing what she got in between she sulked. "So are you saying it was just brotherly teasing?"

"I think that is likely." Tiona concluded.

At that point a poke on my shoulder caused me to turn my head. Ayda smiled warmly, clearly gleeful that we were together right now.

"You aren't eating, is something wrong?" She asked, concerned by my not acting as a human vacuum cleaner.

I blushed as she put her hand next to mine on the table. "I just was thinking." I say, trying to put her mind at ease.

"Oh… is that so…" She smirked wickedly. "Are you sure you weren't eavesdropping?"

Damn, she figured me out. My face was as red as a tomato and I could feel a stare but I was too dazed to pinpoint its origin.

"Guilty." I said with a mischievous smirk as I began eating during her statement.

"Hmm. Using your senses to spy on people… makes me wonder what else you might have done." She pointed at her face as she said that immediately making it clear what her implication was. I then proceeded to choke on the chicken I was eating.

After I finally swallow it I gasp out "I would never."

"Sureeeeeeeeeee… I'm sure a young man like yourself would _never_ be tempted to behave in such a perverse manner." She then giggled frustrating me to no end… I simply could not compete with her in this regard.

"So, how is your family." I change topics to try and calm myself.

"They are fine. I told them I had a man now." Leaning in she whispered "I wrote that he was my instructor… two weeks ago."

"You planned this?!"

"Of course silly, there is a reason you like me. I am just as smart as you." Her finger booped my nose as she kindly mocked "Maybe even smarter."

I reacted with feigned indignance "Not all of us got a fancy elven edumacation. Some of us were street rats for the first decade of our lives." My cover story, far more believable than universe transferal combined with physical age reduction, had the side effect of making me seem like an unreasonably precocious child.

"Aw, is the big baby jealous?" She jokingly mocked.

"Envious, based on root definitions jealousy is the fear of losing what you have and envy is the desire for what someone else has. Also no, I am not envious of your education."

"Hey, I was just teasing." She pouted at my determined expression. I waited a few more seconds "I'm sorry ok."

I gave a wicked grin, my blue eyes staring into her emerald ones "Gotcha!"

The rest of the dinner passed uneventfully and the neight did as well.

The next day I got up before the morning. Going to the north wall I began practicing with my glaive. The feel was still off, ironically the perfection of the weapon was difficult to get a handle on.

"Hey." A voice I recognized as Aiz's came to the fore.

"Hello Aiz." I knew what she would ask and I knew I would have to accept.

"Would you like to train with me? I need to learn to handle this replacement until Desperate is fixed."

"Very well, just because you are up this early I'll do it. Just don't bruise me to badly ok?"

"I'll try." Her voice tinged with embarrassment at that. Although she was the strongest of the loki familia she didn't know how to hold back her strength as much as the others. In truth it was one of the things I was a bit insecure about. In truth a real fight between me and any of the others would be a massacre. My skills could allow me to defeat a certain type of fighter, but the rest of the team minus lefiya exceeded me in every stat by a notable margine. Even the few who had trouble initially with my precision like Gareth and Bete could quickly wear me down. It reminded me of the comic fight of batman vs superman. Tactics could only take the man so far in the face of overwhelming power.

"Are you ready?" Aiz asked. Her face retaining the partially confused stoicism it was famous for. I nodded and she launched herself forward.

A flurry, that was what it was. Aiz's prefered method. A rappid string of powerful well placed blows Each too strong to tank, too fast in sequence to easily dodge. For most this was an impossibility to fight. Even with two ranks of grace and his perceptive skill Shard could not find the space to launch a single strike against Aiz when she went all out. At least that's how it starts, no one, even with chain attack, can keep up a flurry forever. As shard redirected her attacks he noted the value of indestructibility. It opened up his blocking possibilities against strong fighters almost immeasurably as now he could use the pole to redirect blows without risking it being cut in half.

I had an idea. "So, remember the kid that you saved from the minotaur?" I said dodging her now clumsier strikes.

"Yes. I still wish to find him." Aiz continued her focus back in a second. This was something I admired about her, Bete and the twins could be reduced to a flailing mess in a few well placed sentences, but nothing that I knew of could truly shake Aiz.

"Do you know where he is?" Blocking her next strike I continued "Do you know his name? His familia?"

"No." She sounded more concerned, I considered for a moment before stating.

"I hope you find Bell soon." Taking advantage of her slight fatigue from her offense and her shock at my knowledge I launched my assault. My first blow was blocked but I swung back around my head rapidly hitting her with the back side of the sword part of my glaive. Unlike most I kept the back end sharpened as well for just this reason.

"How do you know his name?" Aiz continued her offensive unfazed by the cut I made into her armor.

"I helped him register a few weeks back, Bete was right about how new he is."

"What else do you know?" That sword swing got close to my face. I was now concerned. As she lost control in the wrong way, she was now fighting naturally… a bad situation for me, one good hit and the north wall would be painted with my blood.

"After the spar, I'll tell you all I know." As I said this she sheathed her sword… she really wants to know this kid huh… maybe Aiz finally has feelings for someone. Or maybe it's just her conscience peaking through.

"Alright. What do you want to know?" I was surprised to find that after only about a minute of fighting I was winded. Aiz truly was a league all her own.

"Whatever you can tell me." Her excitement visible.

"His name is Bell Cranel. He is 14, under a month of time in the dungeon. Level 1, uses a knife. I assume that you know what he looks like?"

"Yes. Do you know where he generally spends his time?"

"In the dungeon mostly. His family is very poor so he needs to spend a lot of time there to make ends meet" I didn't know this for sure but it was a safe guess. "I suspect that he also wishes to improve, for what reason I cannot say but he has already progressed beyond the 6th floor."

"But he was on the 5th floor less than a week ago!" Her eyes widened.

"I'm aware, his progress exceeds ours. Bete was wrong about his worth." I quickly redirected. "That's all I know Aiz, you should get ready for your day with loki."

She looked down at the ground as she left.

I went to the kitchens immediately to wheedle breakfast out of the chefs before it was "officially served." In truth I wanted to avoid the crowd at the showers so I could get ready on my own. I hated locker rooms in high school and my temporary time in college, I managed to live with the more organized dorm room that this familia was but that part always was outside of my comfort zone. After I grabbed some bread and honey from the kitchen I quickly wolfed it down… now that I think about it Bete eats like a bird. That's a little Ironic. I showered then was sure to dress nicely. I always prefered coats and ties for formal events and dates but the location was too dirty for that to be practical. I found a nice long sleeved black shirt and pants to match. A surprise considering my clothing organization was simply 'have all shirts and pants on hangers' with no other method employed.

I found Ayda waiting outside in a forest green dress, it matched her eyes and hair almost too well. After a few seconds I remembered I wasn't breathing and rectified that situation.

"Are you ready handsome?" She flirted.

Blushing I replied "Sure."

I was ready for a perfectly normal date on this perfectly normal day.

Well that's it for this chapter. Thank you all for reading, feedback is always welcome. Have a wonderful day :).


	6. Chapter 6

Hello and welcome to part 6: One note, I've noticed two oddities in my viewing stats. Firstly that chapter four has more views than any other chapter except the first by a factor of two. Idk why but it is amusing. The other thing I've noticed is that aside from the United States, which always gives me the most views, the second largest source of views and third largest source of visitors is poland. I'm surprised by the amount of views but I am grateful to everyone who put up with more than one chapter of my drivel :) Now onto the chapter.

Year ten Month one part 6: An abnormal day.

I should have known better. If luck were a stat in the falna I would have a god damn zero. The day started out fine, Ayda and I held hands walking around, trying events and checking out stands/stores. Then I heard a roar. This is why you don't try to tame monsters, a tamed monster only responds to its owner and is still permanently murderous to all other living beings.

"Is something wrong?" Ayda asked currently eating some sort of fried thing.

"Monsters have broken out." I then ran towards the sounds of roars.

I got there at the same time as Aiz. She and loki were right by the coliseum, however I was not as reserved as most high level adventurers about displaying our superhuman abilities when needed. Thus though out of breath I covered the distance in a surprisingly short amount of time. I heard the tale end of the conversation.

"We don't have enough forces to contain the monsters. I beg of you, help us…!" Eina pleaded.

We had no reason to refuse. Aiz looked back over her shoulder toward her goddess.

"Loki." it wasn't a question.

"I'm going to help too." I revealed my presence. Though unarmed and unarmored I was still at least as much help as a level 3 in full gear.

"Yeah, I heard. Can't be on a date at a time like this. I'll let Ganesha borrow ya for a bit. And try not to die Shard."

I nodded as we were told of the size and composition of the other forces monstrous and allied. I listened for the sounds of roars and other monstrous noises then ran towards them once more.

It was a race, Aiz's wind perception vs my super senses. Though I could find them faster she disposed of them with far greater speed. The two of us ripped through most of the monsters before the ganesha war parties or the other upper class adventurers present could even assess the situation.

My hands started to get sore. With only an I rank in fist strike as opposed to the usual H of my peers my fists were not quite weapons in their own right, but they were more than enough for the weak monsters captured by Ganesha Familia. I focused on the sound ahead of me. The telltale roar of an orc. I rushed forward collapsing it's skull with one punch.

"That's 5 I muttered to myself." We quickly dispatched 8 but the ninth was somewhere in daedalus street. The area had too many people and too many barriers to senses making it impossible to find it even for me.

I saw Tione, Tiona and Lefiya nearby.

"Ah-ha-ha, looks like we won't get a turn." Tiona muttered annoyed at our efficiency.

I focused for a second confirming the kills made by Aiz and me.

"Yep, there is just one large silverback left somewhere in deadalus street. Neither Aiz nor I can find it easily in there."

"Feels like we were offered candy but someone else ate it…" Tione griped.

"Sorry, protecting the innocent must come first." I countered

"Oh? You, too?" Tiona spoke at the same time as me.

"Quiet Shard." Tione whined.

"…U-umm, none of you have weapons or armor. I'm amazed you can say things like that." Lefiya murmured. Uncertain as before.

"…?" a disturbance audible on Tiona's face

"Tiona?" I asked

Looking at me she asked "Do you feel that Shard?"

My eyes widened… how did I miss it

"Take cover!" I shouted just in time as an explosion erupted from under the street level. A woman's scream cut through the air. The smoke and dust wavered as it started to clear. That's when a long, snake like monster came into view. Its tail was still emerging from between the stones of the broken pavement. I had never seen any monster like it, yet it was obviously stronger than the ones Aiz and I had slaughtered.

"Tione, this one means business!"

"Our turn." The twins sprinted forward. I sighed as I followed them. 300 strength lower at every level and two ranks below in fist strike rapidly showed it's difference as my punch bounced harmlessly off the creature, having no effect whatsoever.

"I'll go get Aiz!" I shouted at the other two, running before I could hear the reply. While running towards her I looked for anything that could be a suitable weapon. I saw a young man with a standard non-guild-loan greatsword, lower quality, likely a high lvl 1. "How much did you pay for that sword?!" I shouted at him.

"5-55000 valis sir." Focusing on his face I could see his reply was truthful out of shock. I took one of my coin purses and thrust it into his hand taking the sword.

"That's 100k." Before he could respond I ran off. A few seconds later and I had retrieved Aiz.

As we got back I heard Tione yell "What I wouldn't give for a sword right now."

"I could give you this one." I said as I cut the tentacle, redirecting it away from lefiya. "But you might find it a bit to frail for your strength." One blow and the blade was already chipped, this thing would not last long… back to dodging it was.

Lefiya had found cover outside of the monster's range and begun casting a spell. " _Unleashed beam of light, limbs of the holy tree. You are the master archer."_ With no focus she casted through her palm. This might work I thought, the 4 of us can keep it away from her with ease.

" _Loose your arrows, fairy archers. Pierce the target with the utmost accuracy!"_

The creature turned away and looked directly at her, then attacked faster than I could react as I realized too late the target. A sudden impact tore through her stomach.

"—ah." A pale-green tendril had shot out of the ground at her feet. Without any armor to absorb the blow, the green appendage, as thick as Lefiya's arm, slamed into her frail gut. "Ka-AHH!" Blood erupted from her mouth, splattering on the ground. The blow knocked the elf clean off her feet. Her eyes rolled into her head as she flew backward. Thud! She landed on her back, body twitching. The tendril that burst from the ground started to wiggle. At the same time, the creature began to change. It raised its lump-like head toward the sky. Crick! Crick! Lines appeared— and it bloomed.

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Its roar reverberated through the streets. Many petals stretched out to sunlight. Each of them was an ominous deep red. They all met in the center, a gigantic mouth lined with fangs. Pollen shook free with every movement. The flesh inside its mouth was light pink. Its magic stone was visible deep in its throat as the beast turned toward its prey.

"That's not good." My underreaction was alongside the shocked expressions of the twins and Aiz.

"Here's the plan." I decided to take command. "Since it detects magic it will target whoever tries to cast a spell, likely starting with the most powerful." I tossed my sword to Tiona "I overpaid for that so make it count." Her eyes widened as she understood my plan.

"No Shard, you can't." I interrupted her

"Yes I can, dodging is literally what I do best. Now, when I start casting that will distract it from tempest and whichever of Riveria's spells Lefiya casts." Go.

There was an immediate snag. Aiz's blade broke in one swing, she did not hold back enough from before. Tiona grudgingly tossed her the greatsword telling her.

"You'll only get one good swing out of it."

That was all we needed though.

*Lefiya Pov*

"Here." She recognized the voice but could not put a name on it. She recognized the item as a healing potion. She applied it quickly, restoring herself to fighting shape. Upon seeing the bottle, she knew who's it was. There was only one adventurer who carried this high level a potion around casually. Shard gave her his potion. She looked upon the battlefield. Aiz's sword had broke and she now wielded the sword Shard procured. He was facing down the beast at least 6 meders ahead of the others and at least 15 away from her. She then felt an ungodly amount of magic flow through his body as he said the first line of his chant.

" _I call upon the gift I had forgone."_

Non mages could not sense mana, even most adventurers with spells had trouble with it. But Lefiya was a prodigy and could sense mana as regularly as most people saw.

" _I call upon gods, demons, and all other forces of this world."_

The creature could sense it too, all of it's tentacles focused on Shard. He jumped on the first one running along it while casting. At this point lefiya stood, she was weak, she was powerless. But with it so focused on him even Riveria's mightiest spell might slip by unnoticed.

" _I beseech the name of Wishe!"_

In the end, all she could do was cling. It was the only way to reach their height.

" _I call upon them through and for acces to the unalienable."(Shard)_

" _Ancestors of the forest, proud brethren. Answer my call and descend upon the plains."(Lefiya)_

The beast ignored her, and Aiz in spite of her charging tempest. It barely even defended itself from Tione or Tiona's strikes. Lefiya noted a different tone in his chant. While most resembled prayer hymns, his had not musical quality whatsoever. Without melody it sounded more like a bargain being struck than a prayer being answered. He punched a tentacle launched at him at the last moment, causing it to redirect into another blocking both with one motion. Casting as fast as she could Lefiya added 3 more lines before Shard's next

" _Connecting bonds, the pledge of paradise. Turn the wheel and dance."_

" _Come, ring of fairies."_

" _Elf Ring."_

Her golden magic circle turned to jade the moment those words left her lips.

" _Though this violates natural law and humility, It is endowed to me through divine providence and through my own will."_ Lefyia had never seen the man cast before, she knew it was a potent spell, and costly. However the chant got stranger and stranger. No spell recursed it's source of power. Magic is drawn from the universe, to draw from your own will is more in line with a curse. A spell with a price attached. Shard barely avoided the next tentacle. The cast clearly took a lot of his focus, not to mention mind. Based on the power he was outputting the cast would deplete more mind than lefiya held in her total reserve, perhaps it would exceed even Riveria's limits to cast it.

"— _Harbinger of the end, white snow. Gust before the twilight."_ Her cast continued as Shard recovered, now casting an entirely different spell.

" _Fading light, freezing land."_ The beast was still almost blissfully unaware of her as she casted. She smiled. 'At least I will contribute something of value, I won't be a total waste.'

Tione, Tiona and Aiz were amazing, keeping 8 out of ten strikes the monster swung with at bay while chipping away at it slowly but surely. Aiz's sword was long gone. Ariel was now empowering her fists, turning her into a living gale.

" _Now return me from my winding road, bring my mind to bear."_ The power of his words at this point almost made her lose focus, but she finished her own spell

" _Gods, answer my bargain, demons, grant my wish." (Shard)._

" _Blow with the power of the third harsh winter—My name is Alf!"_

" _Wynn Fimbulvetr."_

An arctic blast filled the street. When it cleared, the three joined flowers were frozen solid. As if frozen in time.

Shard canceled his spell and Lefiya suddenly felt ten kilo's lighter… a feeling that rescinded when Shard collapsed.

"Shard!" She yelled out.

"It's fine" Aiz reassured her, "He just has mind down. Once he passes the 'mind to bear line' the mind cost is paid. Once the spell concludes it overloads his mind by depleting more than 100% of his reserve at once causing a mind down"

"He's already back up!" Tiona shouted happily.

Shard Pov

"The headache never gets easier, especially if you already get migraines." I said, pretending like it's all a big joke for Lefiya's sake.

"Thank's Lefiya, I was counting on you." I said only slightly embellishing the truth, I was counting on *someone* but lefiya was a pleasant surprise.

I immediately ran to deadalus street. I was damaged enough that my run was that of a lvl 1 but it was still fast enough to find the rather… a little white haired kid with the stone of a silverback in his hand.

After seeing it dead Shard left… he had the remainder of a date to make up for.

That's the end of chapter 6. It's a little shorter than usual but I finally reached the ending of book 1 XD. Thank's everyone for reading, my goal is for my next chapter to cover most if not all of book 2 so there will be a bit of a delay. I hope to see you all as soon as possible, in spite of this being my silliest work it is without a doubt the one I most enjoy writing.


	7. Chapter 7

Hello, welcome to chapter 7. My longest chapter yet (woo).

Month one part 7: time for a plot to begin.

After (barely) salvaging my date I decided that my dirt covered, bruised body needed some sleep. I went into the shower room at what I estimated to be around 4 pm. One of the many negatives of this world was the lack of clocks. Many houses had at least one analog clock, but I was accustomed to a clock in near every room, not to mention my phone, my computer. Thinking about it I am surprised I was able to adapt to not having those, although my punctuality suffered in the first year greatly I still held a large amount of practical/usable knowledge in my head. Legal knowledge was useless as this world's legal system was far behind european civil law, let alone english common law. It was still legally accepted practice to beat prisoners to get confessions for crying out loud, a practice that became unconstitutional over 80 years ago in the united states in my timeline. In truth although I missed my family and friends it was never the largest loss. I learned long ago that you can always make more friends, and that if you are lucky you can sometimes even find a new family. I still missed them, but that hole was filled. Losing access to the internet and advanced technology was far more challenging to cope with. Superpowers were cool, but in terms of practicality modern tech had this world beaten at every turn.

I finished cleaning myself within a few minutes, however I waited almost an hour letting the scalding water run over my pale flesh until it was nearly red. After I had finished I dried myself off, I don't remember who put the towel there as I did not remember bringing it but I was grateful. As I put on my clothes I finally re-activated my skill, sometimes you just need to tune the world out but after 9 ½ years of having 'perceptive' I almost felt blind without it. Upon reactivation I heard the gentle breathing of a girl outside. After a few seconds I pinpointed it to lefiya. Checking to make sure my clothes were fully up I walked out, turning in feigned surprise at the gold haired elf girl.

"Thank you for bringing towels, forgetting is unlike me." I kept my face perfectly neutral as she blushed, her mind was apparently as lewd as mine when I was her age. Or perhaps I was projecting.

"Is there something you wanted to ask me?" Normally, even within the familia, someone acting this kind wanted something, either material or personal. Few people gave without some form of recompense. The few who do generally get some form of internal satisfaction from it. Based on Lefiya's expression she had a question, but she did not know how to ask it. Her face scrunched for a few seconds before she figured it out.

"You train all new recruits alongside Gareth, save for those selected for training alongside Finn or Riveria." Though said in a questioning tone it was clearly a statment. Regardless I confirmed it too her

"Yes, I am the assistant general trainer." Leyfia joined the familia as a level two immediately under Riveria's tutelage so she had bypassed the standard training Gareth and I put people through. Losing patience I asked

"What specifically can I do for you?"

Without hesitation but with trepidation she asked "Can you teach me how to concurent cast?"

With slight mocking glee I probed "Any reason in particular you want it to be me and not Aiz? Perhaps you don't think she is competent in it…"

I watched gleefully as the fear and uncertainty built up inside her, how could she doubt her senpai. I didn't think in japanese but if there ever was a girl for which weeb-speak fit it would be Lefiya's obsession with Aiz. Honestly it was quite adorable. I watched her blush, fidget and murmur for a few seconds before sparing her.

"I'm just kidding… although Riveria can teach you anything related to casting better than me."

At this she put on an impossibly adorable face, a fusion of a puppy and a baby seal. "She can't teach me to dodge like you. No one can."

"Flattery eh?" I could not help feeling butterflies at it in spite of myself. "Fine, I'll do what I can. I can promise you this will not be easy." Remembering my promise to Ayda, which I was more keen on keeping I continued "After my next trip down to the dungeon I would be happy to."

Lefiya was slightly disappointed at this but accepted it. A grim determination covering her face. She turned and left as I sighed. Sometimes I didn't know whether I loved or hated my job.

I entered the dining hall at around 6. Outside of returning from expeditions the area was more casually timed, a wider spacing of time also occurred. During a feast everyone was expected be there within a 30 minute window due to the expense of hiring a large number of chef's to prepare a large number of dishes in large portions, however it also served familial cohesion to have everyone in some form of common merriment from time to time. Normally however the familia simply had business and free time scattered throughout the day for various members. in raw number loki familia was third after apolo and ganesha after all. Therefore under normal circumstances the 3 main meal periods were expanded and in a order style rather than the buffet of a feast. This could be done entirely by lower level familia members under the familia's executive chef. Upon entering I walked past the table into the kitchen myself. I was a decent cook due to having multiple friends in the culinary art's in my past life and I noticed the hall was more crowded than normal. When I entered the kitchen I saw a small group of cooks and chefs rapidly preparing food, one girl stuck out to me. An amazon.

"Hey Tione." She was so engaged in her cooking she did not notice me until that moment, she almost jumped back barely avoiding ruining dozens of dishes.

"What the Hell Shard!" She yelled in my face, fortunately I turned off my super hearing as she did this. "Don't sneak up on me like that!."

I rolled my eyes. "If that was sneaking than a tyrannosaurus is a flying stealth dinosaur."

"Huh?"

"Nevermind. Whacha makin for the cap?" I drilled into her eyes as I said this

"How do you know it's fo… you know what I'm being the bigger person here, it's a surf and turf." Her exasperation clear but her anger under control.

"Cool!" I made sure my animation was genuine "just remember to season it properly." I said looking at the woefully under, pepered? Peperized? Whichever it was steak, and the lack of any other seasonings. Another thing I did miss is that with the exception of a couple types of pepper, salt, garlic and a couple other aromatics, seasoning was ridiculously expensive.

She maintained a calm attitude in spite of her boiling rage. Reaching for a grinder of black pepper she muttered "Thank you Shard."

I felt terrible. I didn't see eye to eye with her sometimes sycophantic pining for the commander but she was a good person. Before I left I whispered in her ear "I'm sorry."

I didn't wait to hear her response.

After I finished making the dish, a chicken soup with ramen noodles and a large variety of vegetables from the demeter familia. I looked around for Ayda and found her quickly, almost all adventurers were obvious and easy to spot.

"Hey babe." I tried and failed at remaining casual.

She laughed, not maliciously but it still made me feel silly. I quickly changed the topic away from my embarrassment.

"Here." I said handing her one of the bowls.

"Here? That's all you say?" She teased but it was still sad that I could not properly focus in this position. I was capable of resisting Freya for crying out loud! At this point Shard noted mirthfully that one of the many differences from the old world was the view on mentor/mentee relationships. Here it held to the old greek model of being tolerated as a net good whereas back in his old world the relationship he was in would almost certainly be considered taboo.

"So, Mr. Big strong boss man. What's the plan for tomorrow?" She gently grazed my arm with her finger, it tickled and I could not help but giggle slightly at it.

"We are going down to the under resort. From there we will strike out into the lower levels. I will fight and you will be my supporter until we find a monster you cannot normally beat on your own. At which point I will keep other monsters away while you kill it in single combat." I lied about the last part. In truth I would be ready to save her at the last moment if she failed… but she could not know that she would be saved if she was to break through the barrier that held her.

Ayda looked slightly nervous at this, but then made a resigned sigh "I guess I signed up for this."

I held her hand as I stared into her perfect, deep, verdant green eyes. "I know you can do it."

At this point Tione walked up to us.

"Aww, you two are so cuuuute!" I blushed involuntarily… I'm woefully unprepared for this.

"Hi Tione." Ayda was unfazed by her superior officer's remark.

"Hi…" Tione paused not remembering the name of the girl in front of her.

"Ayda." I finished for her regaining a little of my confidence as I did so.

"Right. So, Shard… where do you have her family held hostage?" She stated, with a little more levity than normal.

"Nowhere… benefit of not choosing someone with a race obsession." I hated finn's policies for dating, unfortunately he was the boss and the second strongest fighter in the world so snarky quips was all he could do. The worst part was it wasn't even him only liking Prums, I could get behind that. We don't get to choose who we fall for. He only cared about a wife and a child for the purposes of his legacy. Though not unheard of in this world it disgusted me. Even with 10 extra years tacked onto it, and then many more added afterwards through the falna's age reduction I still believed that life was far too short to prioritize your legacy which you won't even get to see enacted over the joy of the life you were living right now. Of course my comments were the reason Tione hated me more than anything else, especially since she knew the reason for my disdain and it hurt her even more than me.

"How dare you!" She yelled grabbing my arm as she lifted me effortlessly from my seat.

"If you wish to settle this in a fight, we should take it outside." I warned her. Realizing her location as everyone stared at her she let go of my arm, I discovered it had already bruised.

"Outside, 5 minutes."

I groaned… this was going to suck. Tione was physically superior to me in every way and I was still sore from the fight with the aberrant plants. There was no way in hell she was not going to absolutely thrash me… but I could not back down now. Ayda acted as a squire assisting me in putting on my armor. Though unnecessary as my armor was very light it was still very nice.

I looked at my glaive. The best blades all had names but I had not named mine yet. What to call it… once I said it's name, the magic paper would etch it into the unbreakable blade eternally. Knowing me it would likely be something silly and edgy.

"How about…" I then decided on it, calling out with intent to the scripts

" _SoulShield"_. The rune morphed into the words. It wouldn't help but it made me feel a little better about the beat up I was about to receive. Tione more than anyone else countered me, as fast as Bete but harder hitting, and with a variety of weapons I had trouble defending against. Short bladed weapons were the hardest to stop. They could be redirected mid swing making dodging difficult and they are difficult to stop via blocking due to their short length… tanking her blows was something I strictly could not do. At least I could resist her spell. No spell that could be resisted ever seemed to land on me. However I would never be able to cast mine, making this a matchup of pure physicality… a field where I was significantly outclassed.

Entering the courtyard I noticed we had some spectators. None of the team was interested but I suppose this would be a decent show for those who didn't know us personally. To my dismay she went with her knives, I could not deal with those easily but at least I could try and use my reach to keep her at a distance. As I looked into her eyes my heart sank, though prone to rage it was usually of the cool variety. I could not rely on her anger to provide openings.

"We don't have to do this." I kept my face expressionless masking my terror. There was no use going for intimidation as we both knew who would win, meanwhile debasing myself would be distasteful and would likely only embolden her. An appeal to rationality was all that was left, and that never works.

She shook her head "We do, this has been a long time coming. I've had to put up with you since I arrived here and I am going to put you in your place." Her feelings flooded out.

"I am better than you, I am a better leader, a better negotiator and a better fighter. If anyone is going to be the captain's right hand it will be me!" Her voice continued to raise now shouting loud enough for some of the spectators to hear, although many were now wisely deciding to flee.

"I will NOT allow you to continue your disrespect to the captain and I will prove that you are not worthy of your new title." Her voice died down near the end as she readied her blades.

At this moment I knew I could only say one thing to give me a chance. I prepared myself for the harshest blow to be dealt this day.

"The captain will never love you Tione."

She rushed for me as expected, screaming all the while. She was so enraged she forgot about my ability to strike her as my glaive cut into her stomach almost immediately. As a trickle of blood flowed from her she looked at me and laughed maniacally.

"THAT'S the best you can do!" She continued to laugh. "You hit like Tiona over a year ago you wimpy excuse for an adventurer." She rushed again but this time she avoided my swing forcing me on the defensive. Grace and perceptive kept me a hair's breadth away from damage but I could not win an endurance match. I did not know the exact numbers but Tione had over 750 endurance per level. Not counting my unfilled level I never pass 400. A statistic gap of over 2000 points in endurance against both damage and fatigue. Furthermore I did know how her skill "berserk" worked. With her anger my hit might actually have been a poor decision as it massively increased her attack power. Base strength was scarcely better… I was even slightly slower than her with a lower agility.

As she attacked I tried to find a flaw in her form to exploit, but there wasn't one. She would not make the same mistake twice. I blocked her strikes as best I could but on her 5th swing in her assault she made a slight incision on my right arm, cutting through my armor and into my flesh, my arm felt lighter and warm as the blood ran inside my armor and as it gushed out onto the field. I brought down my glaive on her head and she casually blocked it with one of her knives, holding my full downward might at bay with what appeared to be minimal effort.

"What's the matter?" She spat with all the venom she had for me. "Can't even force down a little girl?"

I lifted my blade off quickly twirling it to slap her head with the far end of the pole. It made a satisfactory clunk with the side of her head as it caught her off guard and forced her to the ground. I could only think one thing at the time 'no time for mercy'. I immediately stabbed into her exposed stomach, the flaw with no armor… She cried out in pain as she stabbed up at me. As she tried to stand I sliced at her leg cutting just shy of the bone forcing her down. Before I could continue she swung her daggers at me forcing a withdrawal.

She stood, bruised and bloodied, as her backdraft flowed through her, increasing her power still further to my dismay. As she was now she could likely crush my skull barehanded… and I sighed realizing that even with everything going right I was still doomed to fail.

"We can call this now." I bluffed, one glance at her and I could tell she wasn't buying it… more than that nothing short of unconsciousness would stop her fighting. Her resolve matched that of a craven most afraid of being exposed as such. Her Hazel eyes burned into my soul as she ran forward, limping but unhindered by it. I leapt into the air, hoping her leap would be hindered by her leg. It was not, in one bound she caught up to me, her knives rended through my skin, try as I might to block and sway I still got cut 5 times before I lost count, blood drips painted the courtyard as the specks flew in all directions. She then stabbed downward, I blocked the dual swing but her force sent me crashing into the ground cracking the stone underneath me. She landed a few feet away from me, and I quickly leapt to my feet, my bones all groaning as if they were about to shatter.

I swung with my glaive with all the force I could muster, and as she tried to block it knocked one of the blades from her hands. I swung again before she could recover but her hand reached out, her fingers snapped tight around the flat of the blade locking it. Looking at me with a terrifying grin, she ripped my glaive away effortlessly, throwing it behind her.

I was now unarmed, I had less than three seconds until she retrieved her dagger. I had only one option left.

" _I call upon the gift I had forgone."_ As I said this I ran away from her discarded blade trying to position myself. Even with the spell if I could not retrieve my weapon by the cast completion it would be pointless.

" _I call upon gods, demons, and all other forces of this world."_ She rushed me and I desperately attempted to outpace her swings, but she still got two hits in by the next line. My body had more cuts than a bad action movie and I could begin to feel the effects of the blood loss, it had to be almost a liter by now. The dizziness was truly terrifying as I remember the last time I was like this all those years ago.

" _I call upon them through and for access to the unalienable."_ For the first time this fight since I impaled her I could see fear on Tione's face. It gave me great pleasure to see her terror. Unfortunately she knows how long the spell takes, and how hard it is to cast. Another cut hit a vein on my wrist. By now most of the courtyard was a beautiful red between the two of us.

" _Though this violates natural law and humility it is endowed to me through"_

At this moment I misstepped and a blade entered my stomach.

"Hurt's doesn't it." Tione growled at me. I looked up at her face to see it more filled with pain than anger. I could only say one thing.

" _Divine providence, and my own will."_ Her face morphed in shock. To be honest I was surprised too, I normally lose the spell with less damage than this. She hit me in the head with her pommel and I felt my skull crack.

"Just Die!" She yelled her voice now showing a hint of regret at the damage she was causing.

I spun, the surprise throwing her off her feet and allowing me to regain my posture.

" _Now return me from my winding road,"_ she got back on her feet and I ran towards my glaive, well, staggered would be more accurate. Fortunately the damage I had inflicted was starting to catch up to her.

" _Bring my mind to bear."_ I reached the weapon, readying it unsteadily. She swung, I barely held on against the swing, her anger was lessened and so was her strength, fear and regret crowded out her source of strength.

" _Gods, answer my bargain. Demons, grant my wish."_ On this line her rage returned and she broke my guard cutting my leg with a low strike, down on one knee I breathed heavily. She looked triumphant, her guilt and fear vanishing with her clear victory. What she did not know was, I still retained the spell. I looked up at her, unable to control my face anymore, the pain of a cracked skull turning my normal smile into a grimace.

" _All I ask for, all I request, is."_ I saw her hand move out of the corner of my eye before I lost consciousness.

Ayda Pov. 3rd person.

She was shocked. Not that Shard lost, she knew he was weaker and that the less capable person winning is something that in her experience happened only in fairy tales. She was shocked at the crushing difference. Shard was prodigal like the others but he was clearly the one with the short straw. Slowest, weakest, most frail, no truly insane ability or spell. What surprised her was how close he got, for moments it looked like he was winning. She knew the full incantation of his spell and he was only a few words off. With it's effect he might have been able to win from that point.

At this point Tione broke down. As Ayda was the only one left and she was quiet and unobtrusive Tione didn't notice her. Tione's rage now entirely spent she only had the pain she had suffered, the humiliation she put both shard and herself through, and the shame derived from her own lack of self control and her inability to flawlessly trounce a clearly inferior foe. Tione turned, and Ayda's heart skipped a beat in terror. Even wounded Tione could crush her with a finger. Regaining her composure Tione looked at her, brown eyes sturdy as fortified earthworks.

"Get him cleaned up. I'm done with him." A statement filled with bravado that revealed the true nature of her statement. Shard could cheat with his senses, read someones slight facial expressions to turn their emotional state into a science. It was a poor substitute for truly being able to understand how others thought and felt however. In addition to the words Ayda heard. 'I went too far, I regret my decision and wonder how I can fix it. I hope I can fix this.' Her disagreement with Shard was not without merit, he was a provocateur, and his immediate promotion over her had to be jarring, especially with the philosophical differences between him and Finn, not even mentioning her infatuation with him.

As Ayda walked over to his body she pulled out a potion from his bag. He carried more in his casual gear than she thought was rational. It was a sign of paranoia that he had them… no, that's not correct. However he clearly did not fear random attacks as he did not carry a knife with them on their (interrupted) date. It was truly a strange thing to do. However it was helpful here as Ayda closed all of his wounds in just a couple minutes. There were 31 cuts in all, out of almost a thousand swings from a faster opponent. She flashed back to her training as a girl. The adults hitting her every time she was off, even by a micromeder in her motions. Forcing her to be an elegant dancer. It was her greatest rebelion to disgrace them by defiling her body. Entering a dungeon to be covered by a monster's blood, only to return home to the embrace of a lesser race, it was scandal. Though not quite a nobel like Riviera her family was known and respected. Her acceptance by loki crushed the reputation of her abusers while giving her the most joy she had ever experienced out of life. Though all healed Shard did not awake. The remainder of the damage was fatigue. Only a precious few things could solve that, sleep first amongst them. Even as a level 2 the man was heavy.

"Do you need any help?" Ayda immediately recognized the gold haired elf girl as Lefiya Virdis aka thousand elf. In terms of raw destructive power the 3rd strongest of loki familia… though not exactly built for manual labor.

"I would appreciate it." Ayda needed all the help she could get. Shard weighed at least 80 kilo and that was not counting the armor or weapon.

"I saw the fight, I was hoping to see the spell he casts but that information isn't allowed at my clearance." At this point Ayda's eyes widened. Shard's team had seen him use it twice now so she never considered that the ability might be a secret. Desperate to know more she asked

"Why is it a secret? I mean, my entire team knows it, I just assumed he didn't want us telling other familias as general policy." Lefiya continued moving to the body, clearly containing her excitement.

"What is it?" She asked barely keeping herself bound to the planet.

"I can't tell you, that's for Shard to decide. Why do you want to know, he is not an elf so you can't copy it." Ayda paused before continuing "And no offense, but his spell would not be good on you anyway. It doesn't help a mage."

"It's curiosity." Lefiya admitted as she picked up Shard by the legs. As Ayda lifted his shoulders she continued.

"He is the one I want to learn from. Because he is, in some ways, as far behind the others as me. If he can match them even temporarily then it shows that someone like me can catch up to them." Her warm blue eyes glittered as she finished explaining.

Even in this moment Ayda could not resist teasing the girl.

"Anyone in particular you want to catch?" Lefia almost dropped Shard… and Ayda was filled with regret. Perhaps this was not the time to mess with the mage. Regaining a grip on Shard's legs with a tomato like blush Lefiya replied in a whisper.

"Aiz, I just think she is so cool." Ayda suspected she thought of Aiz in a different way than 'cool' but she let it go.

"Well, no one knows her better than Shard. I'm sure he could help you get closer to her." Ayda measured her expression and noticed the blush deepen… definitely more than normal hero worship. As they walked up the stairs Ayda groaned at the layout of the twilight manor. It was almost entirely built vertically due to the small lot purchased by the loki familia. As they reached his room Lefiya lowered Shard's legs gently so she could open the door. Ayda noted that this would be the first time she was in Shard's room. Ayda knew he spent a lot of time reading at night but the walls had no empty space save for the portions directly behind his bed and desk. As she looked through she noted that only 1 shelf was fiction. The rest were science volumes, magic tomes, and history books. Ayda was impressed, especially since as far as she knew he was almost entirely self taught, Ayda did not notice the unmarked black journals though.

They placed him on his bed. Then Lefiya bowed and left. Ayda looked at his unconscious body, just as adorable in sleep as he was awake… at least to her. She leaned over and gently planted a light kiss on his forehead. She felt her heart flutter as she floated out of the room.

Tione Pov:

Tione sat alone. Her face in a shocked, stunned silence. She was normally better than this. She always considered herself the calmer of the two sisters. However today she crossed the line. 'He crossed the line first.' A flimsy justification unacceptable even for a child. She was not supposed to start fights, especially with her familia. A proper familia was as close as a biological family, and the rifts in the upper crust set a bad example for the lower members. 'That's still his fault' she justified in vain 'he started the rifts due to his loathing of the captain.' "But does he really." Her voice surprised her, hoarse from the fluid lost. Though she had won it was closer than anyone else knew. Even without the spell she was so dizzy and frail when she finally rendered him unconscious a lvl 1 child could have taken her out. Shard was known for fighting above what his statistics should indicate to be possible but even still, Tione had felt her ego deflated by the fight. She knew he leveled up recently, except for magic none of his stats could be over 150. She knew he had almost 100 less agility per level, and that excepting dexterity the gap was wider for every other skill. She then smiled for a second as she thought 'getting vengeance for all of his offensive behavior was worth it' Her smile faded as she knew she could not justify her actions, her punishment vastly exceeded his crimes. He was wrong, his actions were a problem, but she was overzealous in the pursuit of someone else's justice. Within a familia, Orario had little say, justice was determined by the goddess and carried out at her bequest. So long as it didn't violate the guild guidelines at least. Loki allowed duels for disputes… but not to near death, definitely not for verbal insults, and certainly not without her direct permission in the instance. Shard made his consent to the fight verbal, even offering as an potion. so Loki would forgive her. She gasped as the possibility that Shard might have been trying to protect her. Unlikely but possible. He wasn't a coward, but in combat it felt that way. He shied away from the thick of fighting, even his weapon was designed to keep his enemy at arms reach.

The door opened, cutting off her train of thought. Tiona walked in with a enthusiastic grin.

"Hey, we missed you at dinner." She began before noticing the injuries. "What happened?"

Tione groaned "Shard and I had a fight."

Tiona's eyes widened as she shouted "He attacked you! I'll kill him." Tione quickly grabbed her arm.

"No. It was a duel." She thought a moment before adding "It was my idea, and I won anyways. Let it go."

It was not technically true, as Shard would undoubtedly point out to her annoyance. But it was closer to the truth than what was 'Technically correct.'

Tiona looked slightly towards the ceiling for a moment before her eyes lit up.

"Oh, i remembered why I came here. Aiz and I are going down to the 30th floor to get some more valis to pay for our weapon replacements."

Tione was confused, desperate was unbreakable and had cheap maintenance. Tiona filled in the gap noticing the confusion.

"That placeholder sword Aiz destroyed cost 40 million valis." Tione's eyes widened at that figure. Her own main weapon cost only slightly more. The swordmistress burned more money than most adventurers would ever see in one day, by accident…

"So… do you want to join us?" Tiona asked. Tione thought for a moment. Shard's voice echoing 'he will never love you' in her head. Still, even if that were true she still had no choice but to say

"I have to stay with the captain."

"It's ok, we've invited him too. Riveria is in too. We haven't told Bete and Shard but Shard is busy anyways according to Aiz so he won't be a problem. As for Bete, well what he doesn't know won't hurt him."

Tione's mind raced. This was a great opportunity to show the captain how competent she could be in dealing with leadership related activities… and Shard would not be constantly be competing with her. It looked like it would be a very pleasant trip.

"When are we heading out?" Tione asked.

"In two days." Tiona replied

"I look forward to it." Tione concluded, before passing out from exhaustion.

Shard Pov:

The first thing I felt was my body screaming out in pain. Though healed I could still feel the dozens of cuts riddling my body. I was trained for 20 years to expect scars from those cuts, but magic was an amazing thing. I felt the scar on my forehead, having been there since I was 5 it was a constant reminder against being careless. Even a plastic toy crate could be dangerous under the right circumstances. It wasn't the only lesson I learned in my early childhood. Two broken arms also helped curb my more reckless behavior in my teenage years, the myth of invincibility shattered as it should be. I guessed the time to be around 5:00 am based on the movement and sounds around him. I heard Finn working in the office, even for him he was up early. I went to the shared dormitories of the lower level familia members. First Ayda. I walked up to her door and knocked gently. I opened the door to see two elves, one dark haired and one blonde calmly sipping green tea while playing chess. Lefiya got here before me and the other girls were still asleep. Learning how to sleep with motion and noise was something everyone in a large familia had to learn quickly unless they wanted their lives to be a living hell. I was always surprised by how popular chess was within the loki familia… of course with both Finn and I being fans of the game it made some sense. Although my reputation within the familia was less rosey than outside of it it was still positive, and Finn was almost as deified as Loki herself. Without modern metrics it was hard to guess the match ranking of the familia. Back when I was in my prime in the old world my score was a measly 950. It decayed by some amount in college when I stopped playing actively due to my courses and job. However after I arrived here I had Finn as a partner. By now I was almost able to match him in winnrate. I couldn't guess where he was but it was certainly higher than my old peak. Without videogames and tv, chess and reading were the two things left to entertain my mind. I motioned the two girls out of the room so I could speak louder than a whisper without guilt. As soon as we were outside I looked into Ayda's eyes while I took her hand.

"Thank you for taking care of me." I didn't need to ask if it was her. I knew by now that she felt strongly about me.

"It wasn't just me." She pointed at Lefiya. I turned to her.

"Thank you as well Lefiya." She smiled uncharacteristically wickedly as she said

"Well, it would be bad if my trainer could not go on his trip with Ayda and me."

I noticed that she added herself to this trip but at this point I owed her.

"Very well then. I've already packed gear, I tend to overpack but it should be fine if you two can share a tent."

Ayda slinked up to me rubbing herself gently against my arm as she seductively whispered "Or you and I could share on." My face turned red as she laughed haughtily.

"Too easy as always sir." At this we embarked to the dungeon. On the way I dropped off my armor for repairs, though not ideal I was more than capable of handling floors 19-30 without armor and with my students in tow.

As we reached the entrance to the dungeon I saw the white haired boy Bell again. This time he was with a little (though I could tell she was at least as old as him) animal girl. In fact she was so small that minus the obvious ears I would have thought her a prum.

"Hey Bell!" I cheerily yelled to him. The girl frowned as she saw me, did I look like a threat?

"Hey Shard." Bell nervously chuckled. Lefiya and Ayda both got a good look at the boy and though neither wanted him they both immediately found him cute and endearing judging from their reactions. At this I had the briefest flare of jealousy, although I immediately calmed it with the rational that it was easier to work your way into one other person's heart than to have to break them en masse. Remembering my manners I introduced my students (and girlfriend? I was still not quite sure on the Ayda thing).

"This is Ayda." I pointed to the tall dark haired beauty. "And this is Leyfia." I said pointing at the fairy. Bell apparently knew about the touch aversion of most elves and did not go for a handshake or any other contact based greeting. He also blushed adorably at the classically beautiful figure of Lefiya and the more mature form of Ayda.

"I'm Bell" He squeaked out before gesturing to his diminutive companion "and this is Lili." Lili was still frowning at us. Although her gaze was now more focused on my students than me. Like I thought, she was already attracted to him to the point of possessiveness whether she knew it or not.

"Good luck in the dungeon today Bell." I needed to wrap this up, getting to the.18th floor would take almost a full day and I did not want to waste any time. I hated the helpless feeling Tione had instilled in me. In truth I knew I was the weak link physically, but I had always been content with my managerial skills and boss fight capability. That fight showed me that I needed to become stronger still, or else I would lose my life for the second time. Bell nodded as we both went off, I noticed that he was going to the 8th floor already… that kid's progress was insane.

After 8 hours of grueling slaying we made it to the under resort. Despite my attempts to help Ayda and Leyfia would not let me do anything related to setting up the camp except cooking (which the only conceded to me due to the obvious skill difference in that field.) Despite knowing that it was my privilege as an upper class adventurer with a party this small its still felt awkward. As they ate I brought up the plan for tomorrow.

"So Lefiya, you understand what we are trying to do with Ayda correct?" She nodded.

"Good, after we get her the Excelia to level we will return here. We will be here 5 days. That gives us 5 chances. If we manage it than the remaining days will be mob grinding for status points and valis. Everyday after 6 hours down deep we will return to the resort and have 4 hours of skill training after a 1 hour rest period. This is not a vacation… if you both do well I will consider allowing you two the last day off."

Ayda nodded with a grin. Leyfia seemed slightly nervous. "Leyfia." I added. Her eyes looked up in glee. She might have the hero worship for me that she feigns for Aiz I thought.

"We will do practical training tonight as well. Go to sleep Ayda, you need to be in top condition tomorrow." Ayda nodded and went away. Leyfia and I walked a few feet into the woods.

"Before we start." Lefyia patted her foot on the ground pensively "May I ask a question?"

"You just did." I replied. "You may however also ask the question on your mind."

"I watched your fight with Tione." She seemed nervous, like she was disarming a bomb.

"And?" I wanted to know her thoughts.

"Why didn't you concede to her, at the end there. I know enough about your spell to know it isn't an instant win, even if you finished it you could not move. She would have still won." I was surprised she deduced the truth so easily, she was right. Even if I casted the spell I was too injured in that moment to stand, let alone fight. But some lessons needed to be taught.

"How would conceding have helped me win?" Her eyes widened in disbelief at this.

"But you couldn't win." Her face started to fill with rage "You are making no sense."

"I cannot beat myself. I could only ever tie myself, however a version of me that is the same but 1% stronger in lifting could beat me 100% of the time." She tilted her head confused at my poorly explained logic… even when I speak it is poorly done, I would hate for someone to have to parse my thoughts through writing.

"Combat is entirely a matter of taking advantage of any area where you are superior while covering for any area where you are inferior. A mirror of you but better cannot be beaten as there is no area where you can leverage superiority. However even a fight against someone who is massively superior in several areas is not unwinnable as you can take advantage of your strengths to win. This is the nature of defeating a superior foe. So why would I give up on the factor that I control entirely, that being my will to fight and win. Especially if doing so would provide no benefit." I could see her open her mouth but I forestalled her "Because it looks stupid? Or makes you look weak? Reputation is irrelevant in a fight, it only matters if you let it. Anyone who is fully determined to win at any cost, and is willing to take any risk, has a chance to defeat any foe. A person who concedes when they cannot win, or when they think they cannot win, will lose to any foe who is stronger. Worse still they will become a cowered cowed by any foe who seems too strong to handle." Her eyes began to tear slightly as she realized her failed casts in the last expedition all stemmed from this attitude. I reached over, gently touching her face. Though an elf Lefiya was one of the more touch accepting ones.

"The good news is, anyone can draw from this. It is difficult to learn to control your own emotional state in combat but anyone can do it if they truly want to." Almost immediately she blurted out.

"I want too."

I felt pride as I said "Good."

Authors note: That's chapter 8. It's my longest chapter so far yet I still am far further behind where I thought I would be. At this rate it'll be another 4-5 chapters for book two XD. Thank you all for reading and I will see you all soon.


	8. Chapter 8

Hello, welcome to chapter 8. Thank you Irachii for your comment. I had thought I had explained the part of the backstory that was needed sufficiently, however if readers are confused than this is clearly not the case. I shall endeavor to be more clear. I will also focus on other character relationships more, the Tione conflict was to omnipresent in the early chapters… I guess I was too desperate to make it clear that a self insert was not universally loved, and for good reason, and did not focus on the other relationships with canon characters sufficiently.

Month one part 8: Skill is no substitute for strength.

I woke up at what was around 5 in the under resort. The under resort worked on a different timescale from the normal day night cycle. It was currently off by several hours and it was still midnight on the surface. I missed Aiz, we had been practically joined at the hip since Finn brought her in 10 years ago. Unlike with my recruitment he got no argument from Loki, even then anyone with eyes could tell she would grow to be divinely beautiful… of course loki wanted dibs. It turned out to be her best decision once we found out about her wind spirit lineage, in conjunction with her childhood training she crushed through nearly everything in her path. When I found myself in this world, although I kept my mind, my body was the unexercised, slow, small form I loathed from my past. I got up and walked around in the forest. While looking through the trees I considered our first year. In practice Aiz was my senior in every way despite me being a member of the Loki familia longer by a few weeks. At the time Gareth, Finn and Riviera were still level 4… I still could not believe that I am stronger now than they were back then. Whenever they went on expeditions we were still too low level to even join them as supporters. At the time Loki rarely selected level ones, almost as infrequently as she does now. As a result we were all alone. Aiz was the frontline destroying enemies with her barely tempered fury. While I stayed at the back, desperately trying to avoid the claws and fangs of our foes in order to skewer them with my original glaive. We compared our sheets every day, using each other as pacers to race our status up as fast as possible. I could only exceed her in dexterity and compete with her in agility. For every other category there was no contest. The girl was more terrifying to me than the monsters. I remember, 13 months in for me, just over a year for her, when she reached level 2. We were a part of the team taking down the goliath and her ariel severed one of it's legs and one of it's arms. She did almost as much damage as a mage a level or two higher in perfect conditions. As I returned to the camp my mind flashed to a line of corpses, 5 dead minotaurs, with one standing over an unconscious Aiz. I purged the thought from my mind as I saw Ayda and Leyfiya.

"Good morning sleepy heads." I was honestly still somewhat tired myself, but I was good at hiding a little sleepiness.

"Good morning sir."

"Good morning Shard."

I winced at the first one "You don't need to call me sir Lefiya, I could swear I told you that before."

She frowned and gently looked at the ground "I'm sorry si-Shard."

"It's ok." I refocused the conversation on our mission. "Let's focus on our objective, we want to up-jump Ayda to level three as soon as possible." I began thinking of good monsters for her to fight. I for a second considered normal monsters… then I remembered the spawn times present for legendary monsters…

"Change of plans… I'm taking you girls dragonslaying."

As we went towards the 24th level I made sure to take the brunt of the fighting. The green dragon was a match for a level 4 adventurer. Even working together it would be almost impossible for Lefiya and Ayda to take it down. Neither was a front line tank. Ayda was a skirmisher/duelist like myself and Lefiya was a pure mage. I could kill it with my spell if the going got tough but I was strangely confident that it would not be needed. At least I hoped that this would be the case. If there were multiple dragons I would need to fight the others. Though by no means easy I was confident in my ability to take on as many as needed to leave the two juniors with one. Finding a jewel tree On the vast level would normally be impossible to do in one day… however once we found ourselves on the landing I felt the ground. On the surface Aiz's senses narrowly eclipsed my own, although she did not take full advantage of them. Deep in the dungeon her wind magic lost potence though. Meanwhile my hearing was magnified by the echoing hallways and I could tectonically sense motion easily through a large section of the level. Within only 3 hours I located the current spawn of the tree. I sighed in relief at the solitary dragon. The most I had seen was 3, but one was perfect. I could keep incidental monsters away while also making sure the girls lived.

The dragon saw us. Baring its fangs a green smoke flowed around it's breath. The bites of the dragon were poisonous to anyone with an immunity lower than H. I would also be at risk with my immunity I. Yet another case of my refusal to take hits making me vulnerable. Unlike in the old world taking hits was rewarded too my perpetual frustration. As the girls advanced I kept watch over the entrances. Barely watching I only caught glimpses of what I assumed to be a glorious display of teamwork and heroism. A couple of times I noticed one or both of them injured and incapacitated but was impressed by their tenacity. After almost 10 minutes I heard a familiar cry. The dragon had finally been slain. I looked at the two girls, clothes tattered by acid, blood dripping. They were glorious. I practically carried them back to the camp. As I did I killed monsters along the way, picking up whatever stones were available as well as the loot from the dragon and tree. When we arrived back the camp was still empty. As it was loki familia's favorite spot it seemed unlikely anyone else was there. I let Ayda and Leyfiya collapse into a deep slumber as I made a meal for them when the woke up. After quickly eating my bit I decided to visit the town. Even sleepy and injured the two were more than a match for any small creatures that might find them. I slowly walked across the uncomfortably perfect underground environment. Although I was virtually uninjured there was no rush.

As I reached the town I heard several familiar voices… my eyes widened… 'but they didn't make camp at the place' i noticed. Perhaps they were traveling light and planned to reside in the town. As there was no reason to hide I walked up to say hi.

"Hi ya'll" I shouted at the team, it appears it included everyone but Bete, Gareth and those with me.

"Hey. Hi. Hello." They all responded. "Whatcha doin down here?" Tiona asked.

"I'm just doing some training, been down here with two supporters since yesterday."

"Who else is with you?" Riviera asked

I looked back at the campsite "Lefiya and Ayda." Riviera smirked at this… gosh darn it woman it's not like that. After my face finished it's tenure as a beet she asked me, smirk still carried in her voice "So you killed the Goliath I assume?"

I let my face resume normalcy, fortunately the others were to busy looking at things to buy in the town to notice. "Yes, earlier, with 5 girls." Her stare intensified. "Hey! I am not nearly that level of pervert!" I reacted indignantly.

She gave a soft motherly chuckle. "I've known you since you were 10, you are exactly that kind of pervert. I mean… I'm sure you just _hated_ it when they carried your unconscious body, right?"

I gulped. She had me there, though I wanted to think my intentions were truly noble the idea of surounded by beauties was certainly a factor in the decision. I decided to turn this as quickly as possible.

"So, you didn't prepare for the trip? Cause otherwise you all would have set up camp." I observed. "Well, maybe we can leave you the two double tents, it might be cramped but it could save you some valis. We had an exceptional run and would probably benefit more by a resurfacing tonight."

Riviera looked like she had been bopped in the nose. "A return in 2 days? What happened down there?"

I grinned, loving the navigation ability I had in the deep levels a little more than was healthy. "Oh… I just found them a special tree… with accompanying dragon. More than enough loot from those and the monsters killed there and back. Not to mention the goliath drop." My plain face looking boyish with glee.

Riviera stared intently at me, her eyes revealing the calculations in her head. Rather than congratulate the good fortune she let it hang in the air. "So… did the acid melt any of their clothes?"

"Maybe a little." I replied blushing again. By now the others were returning from their shopping. "Actualy" I looked at Aiz as I continued "You all need a supporter and Lefiya could benefit from more time down here. So if she wants I'll leave her here with you until I come back down. I shouldn't be long, just need to get Ayda back to the surface."

Aiz nodded. At this point I ran to the camp. Upon arriving I saw a recently awakened Lefiya and Ayda.

"Hey Shard!" Ayda chirped cherrily, her face still flawless although clearly somewhat tired still due to the aftereffects of her fight.

"Hey, I have bad news and good news." I look at Lefiya "The bad news is we are heading back up, because its almost certain Ayda leveled." Lefiya's face fell but I smiled at her. "Hey, there is good news though, Ais has a party down here." Her face lit up. "And… she needs a supporter." Lefiya looked entirely too happy with this now. I began to gather the supplies necessary for two to ascend.

Once we reached the surface I found Loki and Bete. Apparently they had done *things* yesterday that were not to be discussed in front of Ayda. But we needed status updates.

"So loki." I began once we were alone "What happened?"

She frowned, unusual for her. "I can't say yet. I need to talk to finn first."

I nodded, already taking my shirt off for my update, I wanted to save the Ayda reveal for loki to discover herself. After the ritual was done I received my update.

"Just status again, and this time not even that many. You didn't push yourself as hard as usual." loki observed.

Shard Soulspear

Level 5

Strength: I 53-60

Endurance: I 28-31

Dexterity: H 101-115

Agility: I 76 - 93

Magic: H 198

Hunter: H, Grace H, Abnormal Resistance I, Fist strike I, Glaive Wielder H

Skills: Perceptive: improves all 6 senses immensely and improves reaction time. Can be toggled off.

Precise Blows: Adds Dexterity contribution to attack damage in addition to strength.

Magic: _**REDACTED BY AUTHOR**_

"I was babysitting my trainees, not every dive is about me… by the way Ayda and I still need to convert a green dragon and jewel tree. Ayda and I shall do that after you update her status."

Lokis eyes shot open. "You just matched the average income of an expedition minus quests…" she trailed off.

"Not quite. Even accounting for expenses it was still less. Also I got lucky, i was expecting it to take a week to find the tree."

"It's still impressive" She noted "Hmm, obviously standard spoil rules will apply, im not going to take any more than is normal. I hope you let the 2nd stringers get some but if you think you earned it all."

"Oh no," I interrupted "I didn't strike it once, it was all Leyfia and Ayda. Speaking of which. She needs an update too,"

"Ah... " Loki smirks… "I have a theory, I am hoping i am wrong. Because I remember telling you no suicide fight training."

I blushed, giving away the truth. The gig up I said "It was fine, I was watching the whole time. I would have intervened if things went wrong."

She frowned. "It's irresponsible, you have a distorted view of leveling due to your circumstances. Most people don't do solo/duo death fights to level." She paused briefly… "fine send her in"

Despite suspecting the result loki still squealed in delight at her child leveling. I waited for her to leave for about 10 minutes Apparently there was something of note, but I didn't listen in. If she wanted me to know she would tell me. And as she came out she immediately thrust the sheet at my face.

Ayda Sue

Level 2-3

Strength: B 732-782-0

Endurance: C 637-700-0

Dexterity: A 800- 810 - 0

Agility: B 721 - 793 -0

Magic: 0 (10 added to level 1 and two status)

Hunter H, Abnormal resistance I, Glaive wielder I

Skills: Lady of war : Gains bonus dexterity equal to half of all dexterity statuses

Magic: Winter Blade, effect. Grants a magically scaling cold buff on weapon, through the command word freeze launches a small wave of ice. Chant: _For although my heart is filled with heat, my form is as cold and as elegant as the depths of winter._

I stared at the level was the biggest change, but the spell was almost as big, though nothing in power compared to my own cast, and still likely dwarfed by Ais "ariel" The ice buff fit very well, and gaining Glaive wielder would help her guan dao as it was also a bladed polearm. I then realized.

"You can shoot the ice into." She interrupted enthused.

"I can shoot the ice into enemies whos armor I have bypassed! I can finally utilize my damage fully!" My eyes widened as she connected the dots for me. My precise blows allowed me to deal damage while striking for precision over force, she was always stuck between the two disciples. This would improve her damage immensely. This would make her immediately become the second strongest level 3 in the familia after only lefiya. I guided her to her room before turning in, I wasn't going to be resting long. Tomorrow morning I was heading back down into the dungeon. I stared up at the ceiling, remembering all of my previous levels, I grabbed my journal, and got a candle. I held it under the book… but put it away just before I burned it. 'I must remember all of my past.'

Sorry for the long delay and short chapter. Irl is fun. Next chapter will either be a direct continuation or the first flashback, and will be of normal length and within a normal timeframe.


	9. Chapter 9

Hello, welcome to chapter 9. I decided to make chapter 9 the first flashback :)

Year 1, Month 12

Past status.

Shard Soulspear

Level 1

Strength: 482 E

Endurance: 378 F

Dexterity: 810 A

Agility: 723 B

Magic: 0

Skills: Perceptive: improves all 6 senses immensely and improves reaction time. Can be toggled off.

Magic: _**REDACTED BY AUTHOR**_

"No stat points at all?" I asked, my preteen voice chirping as I looked sadly at my sheet.

"It happens, especially with someone like you…" Loki trailed off but I knew what she meant. Weak, flawed. Especially compared to perfect Aiz, always months ahead, always stronger and tougher with no loss in speed. I was admittedly envious, she was practically a goddess in her own right. I told myself I should not compare myself to her, but who else could I? I had a full extra year in falna, and I was only a few years senior in physical age. I noticed loki staring into my eyes… she had a good ability to guess what I was thinking, except for my origins… I wrote my journal in the English I learned, rather than the language of Orario. This made it an uncrackable code and I was grateful for that. It would not do for them to think I was mad, or worse, that I was an abomination. My magic hinted at my origins but far more subtlely than even a goddess could discern. I sighed

"Look, I know you are anxious, but your progress in under two years is still amazing." Loki consoled leaving out the fact I had hit a wall. No to mention my magic was useless. For a frontline combatant such a long chant was practically impossible, also I wasn't sure if my mind could handle it. Riviera told me that the longer the spell the more mind it consumed, I felt certain I would suffer mind down at the end of it.

I went back to the shared childrens dorm. Ais and I were the only two preteens in the loki familia at the moment so we shared the room for now. Though I was 12 in physical age I knew I was a late bloomer and the falna slowed the age growth… hopefully it also deals with the acne that I knew was coming. I pushed the thought out of my mind and tried to get to sleep. Aiz and I were going into the dungeon tomorrow.

I woke up tired. Even after more than a year, no ac, no alarm clock ect was strange. Aiz was still asleep so I quickly changed and left. I took a shower, the familia was still small enough that the room was mostly empty. However Loki was planning on expanding it more, the twilight manor would within a few years have almost 100 people rather than the current 35. As I walked to the kitchen I considered the absurdity of my situation. Pulled out of college and thrown back 10 years in age to fight for a female version of one of the many gods I dismissed as fiction long ago. At least it wasn't as bad as a standard medieval fantasy, the magic mimicked several technologies. I quickly grabbed pan and began frying some bacon. I watched as people came in, mostly low levels like me… however loki did not require people under 13 to draft duties due to the risks involved. I remember the first time around when I tried to cook at 12, even alone in my kitchen I still made a mess. With 4-5 other people it was normally too risky. Fortunately I finished making the bacon and quickly grilled some bread with the bacon grease before the people who were actually supposed to be in here finished. I added some fresh fruit and carried the two plates out. As I expected Aiz was already waiting, after about a year of a somewhat similar schedule she had gotten used to me making her meals. We began eating quickly, both of us eager to enter the dungeon to expand our skills. The 3 leaders of the group were all in an expedition along with all the level 3's and the more experienced level two's. This left only a few newer level 2's like Aiz and the level ones like me. When it was like this the two of us went down in the dungeon's upper mid levels alone, in fact this was how Aiz leveled. Killing a oversized baby dragon with moderate assistance from me.

"So, we doing the usual today?" I asked nonchalantly. The tiny girl stared at me, relatively level due to my short prepubescent height. Her gold eyes filled with a seemingly endless fire.

"I guess." She uttered. I stared into her eyes, as I focused I saw the hints that my enhanced senses were revealing. The sadness behind the fire… I am still not used to this. My skill was only a couple months old and I still found it overwhelming. I had to spend most of my time with it toggled off. Especially with the 6th sense. I felt someone staring every time I turned it on. I could tell it was the same person, but it was passive. It was strong enough my first day in Orario to feel it without the skill. Now however I could feel her eyes. I don't know how I could tell it was a woman but at least it wasn't lustful… given my physical age I would be very creeped out. I knew I had met the person before but I could not for the life of me figure it out.

After eating we geared up. Aiz's fancy new sword looked very cool, a saber with one very sharp edge. I grabbed my Glaive, I used a spear earlier but we quickly learned that I wasn't quite the right fit. The glaive allowed me to better redirect strikes that I had launched that foes blocked allowing me to avoid and block strikes without losing all offense ability. I was not as precise as fin but I reacted faster and was better at chaining my motions together fluidly. Aiz was not at all similar. She was somewhat fast but slower than fin and myself but with durability and strength more on par with Gareth, of course she had that incredibly overpowered spell Ariel as well. I wore only very light armor. The purpose of which was simply to not die from a stray hit. I did not gain much endurance from damage and I rarely took hits resulting in endurance more on par with most mages of a similar level. Aiz meanwhile wore more sturdy armor, something on the lighter end of medium armor but combined with her insane single target damage and very high natural durability. With the level up I felt like an unnecessary add on to her. A waste of space. It wasn't like any Isekai I had seen. I was talented beyond the average but the average was low, compared to those special in this world I was useless.

We walked to the tower and descended. The first 10 levels were a breeze as Aiz cleared almost every monster before I could even ready my weapon. At level 13 I noticed she was slowing down… I considered that she might be pushing herself to hard but I dismissed that notion, just because I would fall if I acted as aggressively and moved as quickly as she was doesn't mean that it was overtaxing. I turned on my senses to be sure. In the dungeon the calmer, less populated rooms made the ability easier to manage. I could tell she was pushing herself but she should be fine, her heart rate was only slightly elevated. It will be fine I thought as I turned off my senses.

Aiz Pov:

I cleaved through the first 14 floors with few issues. I could afford to be reckless because I knew if I made a mistake Shard would cover my blind spots. I felt myself getting tired around the end of the 14th floor though. At the landing for floor 15 I stopped. I thought the goliath was Slain but I was not sure. I began to walk forward slowly, letting Shard carry some of the burden as we fought through. I then turned the corner and saw 10 red eyes. 5 minotaurs, one of them red. I could not let Shard fight those. I rushed the red and began battle, Shard distracted one as I began slaughtering the others. I heard a slam as I saw Shard hit the wall out of the corner of my eyes. By this point my blade had killed all but 1 of my foes. I cut down the last one engaged with me before A pain in the back of my head caused me to lose consciousness.

Shard Pov: I recovered from being slammed against the wall just in time to see the minotaur knock Aiz unconscious. My heart sunk, however strong she was it was scaring to see a little girl covered in blood on the ground. I stood and threw my glaive before rushing it, the glaive landed in the arm of the minotaur making a slight cut. I reached the handle ripping the blade out just as the minotaur turned. I dodged the swipe at my head rolling under its legs, I picked up Aiz's blade as I prepared my cast. My previous bout showed me that I could not defeat this beast conventionally. I gathered distance and hoped that minotaur's operated similarly to bulls. I was right, the minotaur charged. I thought back to how Riveria casted her spells.

" _I call upon the gift I had forgone."_ I rolled to the side slicing the leg lightly with Aiz's sword. It was hard but I continued to focus on the cast.

" _I call upon gods, demons, and all other forces of this world."_ The Minotaur slammed the ground forcing me to fly into the air. It roared triumphantly as I activated _preceptive_. My mind started to hurt between the strain of the spell and the sensory overload, but I kept focused.

" _Though this violates natural law and humility it is endowed to me through Divine providence, and my own will."_ I swung my glaive wildly as the minotaur launched itself at me. I saw out of the corner of my eye Aiz's eyes open. She didn't stand but I threw myself over the minotaur's head launching myself with the glaive. As I flew the glaive fell out of the minotaur's head. It landed near Aiz and my heart soared as I saw her grip the blade.

" _Now return me from my winding road, Bring my mind to bear."_ I landed just in time to duck under the minotaurs swipe. Aiz began to stand herself up and I could hear her muttering what I could only assume was Ariel.

" _Gods, answer my bargain. Demons, grant my wish."_ I saw Aiz collapse to one knee again but the winds were swirling around her. I needed to give her an opening… however hard it might be.

Aiz Pov:

Aiz looked up, Aiz knew she would be fine in less than a minute but by then it would be to late. There is no way he could take down a minotaur. And he is frail enough one really solid hit would kill him. But then she heard it as he dodged the minotaurs downard smash.

" _All I ask for, all I request, is a little more time._ _ **Temporus.**_ "

The first thing Aiz heard was the sound. A stopwatch ticking constantly. She tried to Follow Shard's movements but he was simply moving too quickly. _Tick tick tick tick_. Every second several new small gashes appeared on the minotaur. After a few seconds she saw the eyes of the minotaur gouged out. She started to stand. At this point the minotaur was a shell of its former self. Both legs were damaged to where it could not stand, both arms could no longer swing and both eyes and ears were ripped apart. However whatever he was doing he still could not pierce the thick central skin and bone. A few light scars were there. Perhaps the glaive could pierce it. Then she saw the stab in the back, a perfect hole to reach the crystal. She then saw him. Whatever spell he cast had ended. He began to stab, but just before he finished the job he passed out from mind down and physical exhaustion.

Aiz stood and charged her ariel charged. After she reached the minotaur she stabbed through the hole dusting the beast. After this she picked him up and began the long trek back to the surface.

Well. That was a short chapter too… I guess I lied about that. Hopefully I can return to my old chapter length soon but I do not know. Next chapter will almost certainly be back at the present.


	10. Chapter 10

Month Two Part one.

Hello and welcome to chapter 10. If you made it this far, congratulations. For reasons I have decided to tactically skip the majority of the third book from the Aiz pov. (also irl sucks…)

I woke up strangely tired. I had missed both of the sentient monster events, however I had been told of them by Fin and Riviera of the confrontation on the 24th floor as well as the fight on the 18th. Although it sounded crazy I accepted it, there was no reason to disbelieve them. I walked down the manor The city was asleep, Not a single light flickered within the whole of Twilight Manor. The residential building and its surroundings ran thick with shadow.

Members of the familia stood watch at the main gate in sets of two despite assurances from their patron deity that "'S all good, don't worry 'bout it." Even now, guards were changing shifts—from a mixed set of humans to a female elf and animal-person pair. Within the manor itself, magic-stone lamps flickered unsteadily throughout the hallways like candlesticks. It had been 4 days since the 24th floor incident had occurred. Lefiya had been out for over 3 days, Although I was used to the feeling of mind down for the less experienced mage the experience was overwhelming. I saw her as I walked down to the training yard. She looked glum even from a distance. It was at this point that we both noticed the sword princess herself, but not in her usual training spot. We both watched, her from relatively close, and me from a balcony as Aiz cleared the wall with a casual bound, bypassing the loki familia security. My curiosity peaked as I deftly launched myself to follow her. Although my glaive was not with me I did purchase a sword for personal defense even when I was too rushed to grab the 9 foot long weapon. I followed Aiz deftly, briefly seeing a white haired boy running but not taking the time to say hello as I was busy following the sword princess. I followed her to the northwest wall, making sure to not stare at her to prevent her from noticing me, to my shock she did not immediately start training but just waited. I watched for several minutes, so focused on her I missed the white haired boy climbing up onto the wall through the adjacent tower. Once he was up the conversation between Bell and Aiz was easy to hear in the quiet morning.

"Good…morning?" Aiz stated, clearly surprised at his tired fearful status

"Haah, haah, haah…! G-good morning!" Bell replied, his innocence, perversions, and terror blended as one

"…Is everything all right?" She asked oblivious

"Oh, sure…I'm fine! Just had a…a bit of a run-in…with a forest fairy…" Could this be our thousand elf? Shard mused

"A forest…fairy?"

"So beautiful but so terrifying…!"

"Are you…sure you're all right?"

"If I could…sit down for a little bit…"

"Right, of course…"

And then the training began. I left after this, they would be here for at least one hour so I could quickly pick up a breakfast at mama mia's place. As I dropped to the ground I saw lefiya looking for Aiz… precisely in the wrong direction. I deftly avoided her as I went to mama mia's.

I arrived at the hostess of fertility just as it opened, I spoke to the elf as she opened the door. "Hello Ryu." She was terrifying when I was still at a low level but she is at least calm and reasonable, someone I can deal with.

"Hello Shard." Contrary to my everprent smile, her face was perpetually expressionless. "Out for famila business this morning?" She looked up and down at me, clearly looking for signs of lies.

"Something like that!" I cheerily stated, giving no sign to my tracking of the sword princess. Her face was unmoved but I could perceive she was not convinced. Fortunately it wasn't worth it to her to press the issue and she moved away as I entered the tavern. As soon as I arrived I took a seat at the corner booth, a habit leftover from my first socially awkward youth. I sat at the table and waited for my order to arrive. As I ate I watched the tavern slowly fill, eventually I saw Bell appear, apparently the girl syr enjoyed giving him free food… bad business practice but whatever. Looking at my plate I decided that it was close enough to being done I walked by the counter tossing mama mia my payment. Catching up with bell in but a moment I tapped his shoulder. His expression went from terrified to relieve… then back to terrified on realizing what familia I was in.

"How are you doing Bell?" I calmly asked giving no hint about what I knew.

I watched as he panicked, he stopped before running accepting that a level 1 had no way of outrunning a level 5, especially after being pursued by a level 3 and an exhausting training session with aiz, who hits harder than a truck when holding back.

He composed himself and stated "fine!" before slowly walking towards the dungeon. It would be tough for him in there after aiz's "training" but it should work out fine. I let him walk away… I had an elf to find.

After hours of searching I found leyfia hiding on the west wall. Her eyes were teary and her face was red.

"Whats wrong?" I asked fairly certain I already knew.

She sat silently refusing to say… this might be annoying.

"Come on, you can tell me… I promise I won't tell anyone else."

She finaly looked up "It's… its.."

I nod waiting for her to spit it out.

"It's Aiz, she was with a kid from another familia. And… and… she was hugging him!"

"Huh, thats not like Aiz, are you certain that's what happened?"

"Um… I… Im not sure." Her brow furrowed

"Ok, If you want I can talk to her about it!" I stated in a chipper tone.

"Thank you Shard." She was clearly still uncomfortable about it. I chuckled

"Trust me, aiz doesn't do silly things, she's not a goof like me."

"Ok, cya later."

At the familia house I quickly found Aiz

"So, what happened with you and bell today?"

"I am training him." She knew better than to lie to me at this point.

"Ok, I just wanted to confirm, be more careful next time, Lefiya saw you and was sure you were hugging bell."

Aiz blushed "I wasn't though, he was very tired so I just helped him stand."

I smirked. "Why are you training him, its the kind of fool thing I might do."

She did her head tilt before saying "He grows exceptionally quickly and I need to know why."

"Did you try asking him?"

"He said he doesn't know." At this my head tilted

"That's odd, that seems like the type of thing one would know, maybe… nah. Well if you don't mind I would like to help train him. I won't interrupt your training sessions, his motivation will be higher with you, but I can train him in a few areas, and try and help you figure out the mystery of your rabbit boy" I laughed in my head, she had a crush on him and didn't know it,

"Oh you call him that too?"

"I mean he is literally a white rabbit boy." We both chuckled before splitting off, her to deal with lefiya and I went to hang out with Ayda.

The next day I found bell quickly, after his training before he went to the dungeon.

"Hi bell, walk with me. " I said quickly pulling him into an alley. I quickly began speaking before he could psych himself out too much "I know Aiz is training you, I am cool with it and I want to help as well, although she is definitely the best fighter in our familia, she doesn't fight the way you do, or understand how you fight."

"Um, ok Shard." He said still nervously looking for a way to escape.

"Its for the best, I am 100% certain you are already bruised after just 2 days. I can't be at pretty as your crush but I can promise not to beat you unconscious, I will be focusing on low physical pressure training to cover the gaps left by the miracle girl."

"Alright, when do we start?"

"Now."

For the next week I trained him as well as Aiz, I focused on how to close gaps, and how to dodge on the advance, Bell was one of the fastest lvl 1's id ever seen and I helped him focus that speed into a relentless assault, rather than the hit/run he had been doing. After each of our sessions we played a couple games of chess, he was awful but got much better by the end of the week. But now it was time, time to go on our expedition, I got up and joined the high table with the other familia leaders.

"We will be taking two groups down to the 18th floor, when we reach there we will group up and proceed down as quickly as possible, our goal is the 59th floor." Finn droned on, I was a little excited, but it was likely just going to be a light exploration with no intense boss combat.

When we got to the dungeon we linked up with the Hepheasts familia, apparently I was in the first group with ais/fin/riveria/bete/the twins. I met up with Reggie, one of the backline hephastus support crew.

"Hey buddy how's it goin"

"Heard we are gonna breach the 59th floor lad."

I nodded. "Yes we are, its going to be… interesting." I then went to my group, apparently he was in the second party with gareth, I just missed some potion handouts… and they are all gone now, so I get none… GREAT. Perfect. Exactly what I needed… Oh well, at least I brought some of my own stocks. There were so many people, even in just the vanguard group that as we traveled down I needed to keep perceptive off. I focused on the surroundings, nothing here was a threat to me, but I needed to make sure it was safe for the backline. Ignoring the perpetual philosophical argument between Tiona and Bete, I watched Aiz's face, even without my perception I could tell something was bothering her, but her face was too expressionless for me to even get a hint as to what. I was shaken out of my thoughts when 4 beaten adventurers came down the hallway. Tiona and I both walked up to them and asked what happend… as is always the case with guys I was completely ignored as they responded to Tiona.

"W-who are you? wait a minute! The amazon!"

"Is that Tiona Hyrute?"

"That can only mean… The loki familia has begun their expedition!"

Tiona grumbled "why is always me" while I tried not to giggle looking at her outfit which was basically just lingerie.

Bete decided to be tactful "what are you rats doing"

After I gave them a reassuring smile they composed themselves and said "There was a minotaur! A great bull of a monster prowling the upper levels."

I quickly asked "Could you please give us more details, please tell us exactly what you saw to the best of your memory as quickly as possible."

The leader breathed then replied "Sure, We were exploring the dungeon same as always, when we saw him, a Minoraur! In one of the passageways between the rooms!" He continued, face pale "He was attacking some kid with white hair!" I didn't hear the rest because I had already turned on perceptive and started running towards him, he was still a 2 month in lvl 1 and there was no way he would survive a minotaur forever.

Ais soon caught up with me, right as we encountered a tiny prum. She called herself lily and begged us to save bell. As soon as we began to refocus he appeared. A beast of a man Ottar, the only thing he said was "stop". I knew we were in trouble. The difference between levels grows. A max stat lvl 1 is almost as strong as a fresh level 2, by level 3 the difference is almost insurmountable, even Aiz could not stand up to Ottar who had been lvl 7 for years. I would need to cast in full just to keep up with him, and then after my minute he would simply kill me in one hit.

I was shaken out of my thoughts when he said "I challenge you, Sword Princess… and you, Dancing Master."

And i'm back, i'm not making promises about update schedule because I hate lying by accident. Thanks to anyone who reads this and I do appreciate the feedback.


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